Palo Alto Weekly 11.11.2011 - Section 1

Palo Alto Weekly 11.11.2011 - Section 1

Section 1 of the November 11, 2011 edition of the Palo Alto Weekly

www.PaloAltoOnline.com
Inside:
Enjoy! catalog of winter classes
William J. Perry, former secretary of defense, strives for worldwide nuclear disarmament
PAGE 16
SUPPORTLOCALJOURNALISM.ORG
Spectrum 14 Eating Out 26 Movies 29 Title Pages 31 Home 45 Puzzles 57
News Measures D, E pass resoundingly Arts Spotlighting the art of tattoos Sports Stanford defense crucial v. Oregon
Page 3 Page 22 Page 34
Still by Your Side
We are pleased to announce Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital have reached new health insurance provider agreements with Anthem Blue Cross. The contracts are retroactive to September 1, 2011. We wish to thank our patients during this period of negotiation. We are still by your side to take care of you and your family. To ensure easy access to a Stanford Primary Care Physician or Specialist, or if you have any questions about Anthem Blue Cross, please call us at 1.877.519.6099 (toll-free) 650.736.5998 (local). For information about Packard Children's physicians and services, please call 1.800.308.3285.
Page 2
Upfront
by Gennady Sheyner and Sue Dremann alo Alto voters made a strong statement in favor of keeping composting local Tuesday night when they passed Measure E, allowing a section of the city's Baylands to potentially be used for a waste-to-energy operation. In an election that pitted two environmentalist coalitions against one
Local news, information and analysis
Voters say `yes' to land for composting plant
Measure E passes, allowing parkland to be used for a waste-to-energy facility
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another, the "sustainability" crowd scored a victory over park conservationists when 64 percent of voters cast their ballot in favor of Measure E, which undedicates a 10-acre parcel of Byxbee Park to enable construction of an anaerobic-digestion facility. Opponents of Measure E, a coalition led by former Councilmembers Emily Renzel and Enid Pearson, ar-
gued that the proposed plant does not belong in the Baylands. The initiative was spearheaded by former Mayor Peter Drekmeier, zero-waste activist Walt Hays and a coalition of local environmentalists and does not settle the green-versusgreen dispute, which is sure to continue for many months to come. It also doesn't authorize the new plant, whose financial viability remains
debatable. What it does do is give the City Council a new option in the complicated and deeply passionate debate over the future of the city's waste operation. "I think the voters want a facility that's cost effective and that improves the environment," Drekmeier said shortly after early results were posted, showing his side winning 64 to 36 percent.
The margin of victory held up, with 7,713 votes in favor and 4,267 against by evening's end. Elaine Larson with the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters said that roughly 2,000 absentee and provisional ballots from Palo Alto remain to be counted, but that more than 90 percent of those would be counted
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ELECTION '11
Voters strike down binding arbitration
More than two-thirds support Measure D, which scraps 1977 provision from City Charter
by Gennady Sheyner alo Alto's longstanding practice of forcing disputes between the city and its publicsafety workers to go to arbitration was repealed Tuesday night, as more than two-thirds of the voters cast their ballots in favor of Measure D. The measure strips the "binding arbitration" provision from the City Charter. The provision, which voters adopted 37 years ago, enabled a three-member arbitration panel to settle contract disputes between management and the unions. It was placed on the ballot by a 5-4 City Council vote after about two years of public hearings and a long debate over whether the provision should be modified or eliminated altogether. Measure D's passage deals another heavy blow to the city's firefighters union, which was recently engaged in an 18-month standoff with the city over a new labor agreement. The stalemate finally ended in September when the two sides reached an agreement that curtails the union's benefits, freezes salaries and, most importantly, scraps the "minimum staffing" provision that required at least 29 firefighters to be on duty at all times. The firefighters union, International Association of Firefighters, Local 1319, vehemently opposed Measure D, arguing that it strips the city's police and firefighters of their collective-bargaining rights. Unlike most other city workers (with some exceptions in the Public Works and Utilities departments), public-safety workers are barred from striking by state law. The measure also drew criticism from the Democratic Party
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Kelsey Kienitz
E-lated
Former Palo Alto Mayor Peter Drekmeier looks at election results for Measure E alongside Dick Moyer, Dorothy Bender and Sue Friedlaender in Palo Alto Tuesday night.
HOLIDAY FUND
Field trips foster love of nature
Environmental Volunteers deliver hands-on eco-education
S
by Karla Kane ince 1972, Environmental Marilyn Hornor, a retired teachVolunteers has been work- er, has been a volunteer docent for ing to inspire a love of nature nearly 20 years. and science in more than 12,000 "I used Environmental Volunlocal children annually through teers in my classroom, and then field trips, camps and events. when I was teaching half-time,
one of the volunteers talked me into doing it the other half of the time. Now that I'm retired, I'm full-time EV," she said. "I love to teach kids, and I love the environment." This past year, the organization received a $3,000 grant from the Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund to support docent-led field trips at the Palo Alto Baylands. Before field trips, Hornor does hands-on work in the classroom, teaching students (usually second-, third- or fourth-graders) about which plants and animals
live in the various habitats of the bay. After the in-class lessons, it's off to the Baylands for a two-hour field trip, where kids learn basic ecological concepts through games, observation and guided activities. "At the Baylands, it's interesting because it's different depending on the tide. If there are an awful lot of birds out on the mud flat during low tide, we look at what they might be eating and talk about what adaptations they
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Page 3
Upfront
Ecole internationale de la P�ninsule
PUBLISHER William S. Johnson EDITORIAL Jocelyn Dong, Editor Carol Blitzer, Associate Editor Keith Peters, Sports Editor Tyler Hanley, ExpressTM and Online Editor Rebecca Wallace, Arts & Entertainment Editor Rick Eymer, Assistant Sports Editor Tom Gibboney, Spectrum Editor Sue Dremann, Chris Kenrick, Gennady Sheyner, Staff Writers Karla Kane, Editorial Assistant, Special Sections Editor Veronica Weber, Staff Photographer Kelsey Kienitz, Photo Intern Dale F. Bentson, Colin Becht, Peter Canavese, Kit Davey, Iris Harrell, Sheila Himmel, Chad Jones, Kevin Kirby, Jack McKinnon, Jeanie K. Smith, Susan Tavernetti, Robert Taylor, Contributors Yichuan Cao, David Ruiz, Editorial Interns DESIGN Shannon Corey, Design Director Raul Perez, Assistant Design Director Linda Atilano, Diane Haas, Scott Peterson, Paul Llewellyn, Senior Designers Gary Vennarucci, Designer PRODUCTION Jennifer Lindberg, Production Manager Dorothy Hassett, Samantha Mejia, Blanca Yoc, Sales & Production Coordinators ADVERTISING Tom Zahiralis, Vice President Sales & Advertising Judie Block, Janice Hoogner, Gary Whitman, Display Advertising Sales Neal Fine, Carolyn Oliver, Rosemary Lewkowitz, Real Estate Advertising Sales David Cirner, Irene Schwartz, Inside Advertising Sales Cathy Norfleet, Display Advertising Sales Asst. Diane Martin, Real Estate Advertising Asst. Alicia Santillan, Classified Administrative Asst. Wendy Suzuki, Advertising Sales Intern EXPRESS, ONLINE AND VIDEO SERVICES Rachel Palmer, Online Operations Coordinator Rachel Hatch, Multimedia Product Manager BUSINESS Susie Ochoa, Payroll & Benefits Elena Dineva, Mary McDonald, Claire McGibeny, Cathy Stringari, Business Associates ADMINISTRATION Janice Covolo, Doris Taylor, Receptionists Ruben Espinoza, Courier EMBARCADERO MEDIA William S. Johnson, President Michael I. Naar, Vice President & CFO Tom Zahiralis, Vice President Sales & Advertising Frank A. Bravo, Director, Information Technology & Webmaster Connie Jo Cotton, Major Accounts Sales Manager Bob Lampkin, Director, Circulation & Mailing Services Alicia Santillan, Circulation Assistant Chris Planessi, Chip Poedjosoedarmo, Computer System Associates The Palo Alto Weekly (ISSN 0199-1159) is published every Friday by Embarcadero Media, 450 Cambridge Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306, (650) 326-8210. Periodicals postage paid at Palo Alto, CA and additional mailing offices. Adjudicated a newspaper of general circulation for Santa Clara County. The Palo Alto Weekly is delivered free to homes in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley, East Palo Alto, to faculty and staff households on the Stanford campus and to portions of Los Altos Hills. If you are not currently receiving the paper, you may request free delivery by calling 326-8210. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Palo Alto Weekly, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302. Copyright �2011 by Embarcadero Media. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited. The Palo Alto Weekly is available on the Internet via Palo Alto Online at: www.PaloAltoOnline.com Our email addresses are: editor@paweekly.com, letters@paweekly.com, digitalads@paweekly.com. Missed delivery or start/stop your paper? Call 650 326-8210, or email circulation@paweekly. com. You may also subscribe online at www.PaloAltoOnline.com. Subscriptions are $60/yr.
PRE-SCHOOL
Outstanding fullday program.
WHEN IT'S YOUR CHILD, EXPERIENCE MATTERS.
TEACHING MANDARIN CHINESE IMMERSION FOR 15 YEARS. A LEADER IN FRENCH IMMERSION IN PALO ALTO. ACCEPTING PRE-SCHOOL APPLICATIONS.
LANGUAGE
Longest running bilingual immersion school in the area. Experienced native-speaking faculty.
RSVP FOR A TOUR!
PRESCHOOL OPEN HOUSE NOVEMBER 12, 2011
ACADEMICS
Established English curriculum. Rigorous program in a nurturing environment. Low student-to-teacher ratio.
INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF THE PENINSULA
Member FDIC
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Page 4
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450 CAMBRIDGE AVE, PALO ALTO, CA 94306 (650) 326-8210
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
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The world we live in today would be a dangerous world even without nuclear weapons.
-- William J. Perry, former U.S. secretary of defense, on why he would like to see an end to nuclear weapons worldwide. See story on page 16.
Around Town
MARCH OF THE LIEUTENANTS ... Palo Alto City Hall has seen a slew of new faces in the past year, as dozens of veterans announced their retirement rather than accept the city's recent rounds of benefit reductions. Though the brain drain has impacted every department, the Police Department has been hit particularly hard by retirements in its senior ranks. This week, the City Council said goodbye to two distinguished veterans, lieutenants Rebecca Lynn Phillips and Douglas Keith, who between them have about 50 years of experience. Both officers received special resolutions from the council and rounds of ovation from a crowd of officers and spectators in the Council Chambers. In his departing speech, Keith thanked his wife and children and gave a shout-out to his colleagues in the department. "The Palo Alto Police Department has been my family for the past 27 years," Keith said. "I formed a lot of close friendships, a lot of close bonds and a lot of relationships with other people in different departments in the city." The round of goodbyes isn't ending just yet. Two other popular department veterans, lieutenants Sandra Brown and Scott Wong, are also retiring and are scheduled to receive special resolutions from the council later this month. MOVE OVER, PORTLAND ... Palo Alto has a grand vision when it comes to the future of bicycling, but this week the City Council decided that the vision could still use a little tweaking. The council was scheduled to approve on Monday night an ambitious Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Plan, a document more than a year in the making that proposes three new bike boulevards, a network of bike trails and way-finding signs and big-ticket infrastructure projects such as a new overcrossing at U.S. Highway 101. The plan has already been reviewed by the Parks and Recreation Commission and has received the blessing of the city's avid biking community. The council agreed that the document lays a solid foundation for making Palo Alto a top bicycling destination in the country (are you listening, Portland, Ore.?). But after a long discussion, members directed staff to solicit even more input from local stakeholders and commissioners before finalizing the plan. Councilman Greg Schmid talked about the need to improve east-west pathways in Palo Alto, while Councilman Pat Burt talked about the need to come up with a clear plan for installing more parking spaces for bikes. "I'm torn because I'm anxious to have this adopted," said Burt, who proposed tapping the brakes on the official adoption and going back for further revisions. His colleagues agreed that the plan is "almost there" (either 90 percent of 99 percent, depending on who was talking). "The good news is that we're close," Mayor Sid Espinosa said at the end of the discussion. ROLLING TO RECOVERY ... Four students at Castilleja School are trying to start a "Rolling Backpack Revolution," urging their fellow teens to toss their traditional book haulers in favor of the rolling backpacks that were popular in middle school. "Every day, millions of children and teens across the nation come home and sink into a daze of pain after lugging around several tons worth of books on their backs," said Jordan Fowler, Hannah Gropper, Olivia Nicholls and Colleen O'Malley. "Not only does this cause short-term pain, but also long-term damage. ... Remember your rolling backpack that was all the rage in middle school? Bring that baby out of storage and take your first step on the road to recovery." MORE SNEAKY GAS ... White trucks emblazoned with the word "HydroMax" seen in the middle of city streets are not part of the PG&E gasline testing receiving so much media attention these days. The trucks instead have been hired by City of Palo Alto Utilities to visually inspect gas lines that might be intersecting sewer pipes. Such "cross bores" have occurred nationwide, Debra Katz, city utilities spokeswoman, said when the smaller-diameter gas pipeline runs right through a sewage pipe. That doesn't create an immediate problem, but if there is backup in the sewer line that a professional is clearing out, the gas line can be hit. Then, leaking gas can pool and enter a home, causing an explosion, she said. Since 2000 Palo Alto has used underground cameras to inspect while installing new pipe. The city has had no incidents, but maintains a "zero tolerance" position, she said. The cameras will search every sewer line where a cross bore could have been made by a horizontal-boring machine.
Page 5
Upfront
Eco-education
(continued from page 3)
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Page 6
have for getting that food: if they have long legs stalking around in the shallow water; or sharp beaks for catching fish; if they're good flyers and divers; or dabbling ducks." They also observe vegetation, noting how certain plants have adapted to saltwater, and discuss the Baylands' two endangered species: the red-bellied salt marsh harvest mouse and the California clapper rail. "We talk about why they're endangered because the only place they live is San Francisco Bay estuary, and some of the things people have been doing to try and help put back some of the marsh that has been used for landfill and buildings. That's the main reason why they're endangered, there's not much salt marsh left," she said. Since Hornor has been leading tours in the Baylands for decades, she said she's seen positive change in the environment over the years during its transformation from marina and landfill to parkland, including the addition of the native-plant nursery. "It was quite amazing, since I have been doing this for so long, to see that the animals and plants really came back. It was a lot faster than I expected," she said. In the fall, pheasants are sometimes visible -- "out strutting," she said -- while in the spring, nesting herons, egrets and swallows prove a fascinating field-trip sight. "It's always a real exciting thing if you get to see the clapper rail," Hornor said. Kids are entertained by the sight of clams squirting water out of the mud during low tide, and "of course they're really excited about the pickleweed," she said, describing how she also plucks strands of cord grass for students to touch. "They can lick their fingers and taste the salt." Hornor and her husband, Neil, a fellow Environmental Volunteer, teach older students to use spotting scopes, monoculars and other tools to observe birds without getting too close. "The kids are really engaged," she said. "Generally, it's the animals that they get excited about. The ground squirrels, oh, they love the ground squirrels! If we should be lucky enough to see a rabbit, those are pretty fun, too." Pam Loebner, a second-grade teacher and science leader at Gardner Bullis School in Los Altos, has been using Environmental Volunteers' programs in her classes for more than a decade, and her own children went through the programs as well. "It's really giving them a handson experience," she said. "They get down and dirty, and they touch nature rather than just reading it from a book. It's a fabulous resource." The volunteer docents "have a level of expertise that I can only dream about," she said.
Courtesy of Environmental Volunteers
Environmental Volunteers docent Barbara Turner leads school children on a field trip at the Baylands. "The people who do this, they do it because they love nature and they want to expose as many people as possible to the beauty around us. It makes the kids more sensitive and more aware." Hornor is looking forward to the opening of Environmental Volunteers' Baylands EcoCenter, to be housed in the former Sea Scout boat-shaped building, set for next spring. There, she anticipates leading classes in lab activities such as examining bay water and mud ("Bay soup," she said) under microscopes. In the meantime, she'll continue her docent duties throughout the park. A trip this week included fourthgraders from Loyola Elementary School, her former workplace in Los Altos. "I feel like I'm doing something worthwhile, and I just love doing it," she said. Editorial Assistant Karla Kane can be emailed at kkane@ paweekly.com.
Weekly's Holiday Fund campaign kicks off
Annual fund drive raises money for local nonprofits
by Karla Kane
T
he annual Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund drive kicks off this week, with the goal of raising and giving away $250,000 to local nonprofits serving children and families. "As we begin the fourth Holiday Fund since the start of the Great Recession, it is heartening that our readers continue to step up and support this grass-roots community fundraising effort," said Bill Johnson, Palo Alto Weekly publisher and president of Embarcadero Media, the Weekly's parent company. "The needs of the less fortunate in our community continue to grow, and we should all be grateful for the work our nonprofit organizations do to provide a safety net in difficult times," he said. "The Holiday Fund is a great way for those who can afford it to express
their appreciation for this important work." In 2010-2011, the fund raised and distributed $230,000 from more than 400 donors and made 44 grants, mostly to groups in Palo Alto and East Palo Alto. Grants ranged in size from $500 up to $25,000. The Weekly Holiday Fund is a partnership with Silicon Valley Community Foundation. The Packard and Hewlett foundations are supporting the campaign with matching grants totaling more than $50,000. People may donate to this year's Holiday Fund online through www.PaloAltoOnline. com/holidayfund. One hundred percent of all donations raised go to the selected organizations, which will be chosen in April. The campaign runs through early January 2012.
Upfront
UTILITIES
PG&E gas-transmission pipelines in Palo Alto
East Palo Alto
Av e Un ive rsi ty
Part of PG&E gas main in Palo Alto is salvaged pipe
Company documents show some pipe was reused during 1957 relocation
by Sue Dremann gas-transmission line that runs through Palo Alto and Stanford University contains at least 22 feet of reused, salvaged pipe dating to 1947, according to PG&E documents. California Public Utilities Commission lawyers blasted PG&E for its use of salvaged pipe in an Oct. 19 filing and accused the company of knowing about faulty seam welds dating to 1948. The reuse of salvaged pipe has also come under scrutiny by the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the San Bruno incident that killed eight people in September 2010. The commission's legal department said PG&E documents that show reuse of salvaged pipe "raise serious safety concerns both for the future and for past safety, including the causes of the San Bruno pipeline rupture. "The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has been unable to certify the provenance of the ruptured pipe, or whether any pups that made up the pipe had previously been used elsewhere in PG&E's system. Moreover, we believe that PG&E cannot accurately certify that no other re-used and/or deficient transmission pipe remains in service." Four records show that 2,500 feet of 24inch-diameter pipe in Palo Alto/Stanford was moved starting in 1957. But none indicate the disposition of that pipe, besides the 22 feet that was reused. A Jan. 1, 1957, construction drawing indicates that Line 132, which was the gas main
Menlo Park
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that exploded in San Bruno and runs down the Peninsula, was relocated along Page Mill Road between Junipero Serra Boulevard and El Camino Real. Regarding the 22 feet of reused pipe, PG&E wrote in its Oct. 20 response to the Utilities Commission that the pipe in Palo Alto dates from 1947. "PG&E is hydro testing this section of pipe this year," the company wrote. Last Friday (Nov. 4) PG&E announced that crews performing hydro tests near Palo Alto found a leak that is estimated to be about 1 millimeter in diameter. It is not known yet if the leak is located in the reused portion of pipe. The 4-mile hydro test area contains nearly 21,000 feet of 24-inch seamless pipe that was installed in 1947. A 2,700-foot segment of the pipe has a seam weld and was installed in 1957, PG&E said. On Tuesday, crews determined that that leaking pipe was located on Page Mill, under the eastbound lane, between Hanover Street and Peter Coutts Road. One lane was blocked Tuesday as crews dug the pipe out; testing and repairs were scheduled to proceed Tuesday and Wednesday, according to spokesman Brian Swanson. PG&E in its reply to the California Public Utilities Commission said that the reused, salvaged pipe and the issues pertaining to the 1948 welds are not new to PG&E or the industry. Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be emailed at sdremann@paweekly.com.
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UTILITIES
PG&E pipeline explodes in Woodside
Natural gas line burst near I-280 in Woodside Sunday afternoon
PG&E natural gas pipeline that exploded during pressure testing on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 6), causing a mudslide across Interstate Highway 280 in Woodside, was likely damaged by a backhoe, a utility spokesman said Monday. Line 132 ruptured during hydrostatic testing on a knoll above Highway 280 near Farm Hill Boulevard at about 3:20 p.m., PG&E spokesman David Eisenhauer said. A preliminary investigation indicated that the section of pipe had been damaged by a backhoe sometime after the line was installed in 1947. PG&E is looking into when that damage might have occurred and what agency might have been responsible, Eisenhauer said. The explosion left a 5-foot-by-5-foot crater in the hillside, and water from inside the pipeline caused a mudslide that reached northbound Highway 280 and blocked two work each year and the other half the next -- well above the once in five years required by the Department of Transportation. But where Aldyl-A is known to exist, testing is more frequent, she said. The city conducted a survey of the Aldyl-A pipes at the end of October on top of its routine leak survey, she said. The city will be performing leak surveys in Barron Park on an annual basis until the Aldyl-A pipelines have been removed from the system, which is expected by 2013, she said. Although there is no reason to believe any Aldyl-A exists outside of Barron Park, "We do want to be sure we are being thorough about identifying all the Aldyl-A that might have been installed by PG&E in the annexed area, so we are continuing to research our records of drawings and information given to us by PG&E at the time of the transfer," she said. More specific locations will be available after the engineering phase, she added. Gas is distributed from large transmission lines to distribution feeder mains, to distribu-
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UTILITIES
Gas pipe tied to Cupertino explosion being replaced in Palo Alto
Questionable gas-distribution mains are susceptible to cracking
by Sue Dremann type of polyethylene pipe implicated in an Aug. 31 Cupertino condominium gas explosion also is used in south Palo Alto, city utilities spokeswoman Debra Katz confirmed Monday. Katz said the approximately 3,100 feet of Aldyl-A pipe is located in the Barron Park neighborhood. The pipe comprises about a mile or 0.5 percent of the city's distribution lines and was installed by PG&E about 30 to 40 years ago when Barron Park was unincorporated. The area was annexed to the city in 1975, and the city inherited the pipelines. But the utilities department has never used Aldyl-A in any of its other lines, Katz said. Defective Aldyl-A pipe was made by DuPont Company between 1970 and 1972 and has a shortened lifespan, according to Gene Palermo, an industry expert who worked for DuPont and is now a consultant and president of Palermo Plastics Pipe Consulting in Tennessee. It is susceptible to brittle cracking and crazing when impinged by tree roots and rocky soils and has been implicated in numerous explosions and fires across the country. On Sept. 27, a leaky Aldyl-A pipe in Roseville, Calif., caused a fire that lasted eight hours. Another gas leak was found in the same pipe 2 miles away in early October, according to news reports. PG&E spokesman Brian Swanson said there are about 1,200 miles of Aldyl-A pipe
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in its gas line network. DuPont manufactured Aldyl-A from 1965 to 1984, and only a small percentage of that pipe is defective, Palermo said. However, about 33 percent of Aldyl-A manufactured between 1970 and 1972 is considered problematic, he said. In 1998 the National Transportation Safety Board issued warnings regarding the defective pipe and the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued an advisory bulletin in 2007. Palermo said the so-called "pre-1973" pipe has an oxidized inner wall that can crack if the pipe is impinged or squeezed by rocks, roots or flow-control devices. Defective Aldyl-A pipe has a life expectancy of about 10 to 20 years, said Palermo, who has done pipe life-forecasting studies. By comparison, other polyethylene pipe can last 160 years at ground temperatures of 70 degrees Fahrenheit -- the approximate temperature of southern California soils, he said. Katz said so far the city has not found any problems with the pipes. The city's operating pressure of 25 pounds per square inch (psi) throughout the distribution system is well below the 60 psi pressure at which PG&E operates its distribution system, Katz added. But the city has aggressively tested the lines since learning they could be problematic. Palo Alto routinely tests one half of its entire net-
lanes for about four hours, California Highway Patrol Officer Art Montiel said. No one was injured. The test was being conducted as part of an ongoing safety evaluation of natural gas transmission lines in "high consequence" or highly populated areas, Eisenhauer said. "That's exactly why we do these type of safety tests, to find weaknesses in the pipeline," he said. PG&E crews have conducted pressure tests on more than 120 miles of pipeline since April. Eisenhauer said no homes or buildings were damaged by Sunday's rupture and that the utility employs different testing strategies on pipelines that run directly through neighborhoods, such as placing cameras or "pigs" that run inside the pipes to detect corrosion or faulty seams. -- Bay City News Service tion mains and then to the service lines, which link to the customer's meter, Swanson said. Katz said the city does not have records that identity whether Aldyl-A was used in the city's service lines. "When the mains are replaced in the next approximately 18 months, service lateral pipeline material will be checked and replaced if they indeed are made of Aldyl-A," she said. Palermo said residents shouldn't be overly concerned. Plastic pipe -- even the worst plastic pipe ever sold -- has a lower failure rate than steel pipe, according to the American Gas Association, he said. "In the order of magnitude, it is still better than steel pipe," he said. Steel corrodes, unlike plastic, and steel mains were involved in such tragedies as the 1994 liquid natural-gas pipeline explosion in Edison, N. J., and an August 2000 explosion and fire that killed 12 people in Carlsbad, N. M., he said. Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be emailed at sdremann@paweekly.com.
Page 7
Upfront
POLITICS TRANSPORTATION
Simitian announces bid for Santa Clara County Supervisor
State senator announces candidacy in Palo Alto; Kniss to term out in 2012
by Palo Alto Weekly staff
Gordon to hold high-speedrail meeting in Palo Alto
Assemblyman to lead Nov. 15 discussion of state Rail Authority's new business plan
by Gennady Sheyner alifornia's controversial and billion project," Gordon said in a increasingly expensive high- statement. "Myriad concerns have speed-rail system will be the been relayed by residents locally subject of a public hearing hosted and across the State, and I look by Assemblyman Rich Gordon in forward to their comments and the Palo Alto on Tuesday, Nov. 15, be- Authority's presentation at next tween 1:30 and 4:30 p.m. at City week's hearing." Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.). The plan, while widely viewed Gordon, D-Menlo Park, will lead as a major improvement over the a discussion on the California High rail authority's 2009 effort (the Speed Rail Authority's newly re- prior plan was panned by a host of leased business plan, nonpartisan agencies and which shows the projwatchdogs), is already ect's estimated price tag facing skepticism in Palo rising to $98.5 billion Alto. Last week the City from an initial projecCouncil's Rail Committee tion of $37 billion and directed staff to prepare a its timeline for complescope of services for an intion extended from 2020 dependent consultant who to 2033. The business could review the 230-page plan also lays out the document. rail authority's proposal The local watchdog to phase the construcgroup Californians AdRich Gordon tion of the rail line and vocating for Responsible its strategy for getting Rail Design (CARRD) the needed funding. The strategy also blasted the new plan for using relies largely on federal grants and the same methodology for the rail tax credits, along with $11 billion in system's ridership projections as private investment. State voters had the earlier version. The group has approved a $9.95 billion bond mea- consistently argued that the agensure for the project in 2008. cy's methodology is flawed and Gordon, who earlier this year that its numbers are inflated. The championed a "blended system" Institute for Transportation Studies under which high-speed rail and at UC Berkeley has also criticized Caltrain would share tracks on the the rail authority's earlier ridership Peninsula, chairs the Assembly's projections, which are largely unBudget Subcommittee 3, which changed in the new document. oversees Resources and TransporJim Hartnett, a member of the tation agencies. He said in a state- rail authority's board of directors, ment that the hearing will serve is scheduled to join Gordon at the as a forum for the rail authority to meeting. "present the business plan, receive Nadia Naik, a co-founder of public input, and identify key areas CARRD, said her group "strongly of concern that may require further encourages the public to take adanalysis." vantage of this wonderful opportuGordon was one of many state of- nity to speak directly to legislators ficials who expressed concern about about the California High-Speed the rail project's swelling price tag Rail project. in the new business plan. "The project is at a critical junc"I find the business plan com- ture and attendees can both hear prehensive, but there are still testimony about how things are goquestions that remain unanswered ing and offer their own ideas and -- including how the Authority comments to lawmakers," Naik plans to pay for the nearly $100 said in a statement. in the Baylands would betray a promise the city had made to its voters more than four decades ago to convert the acreage to parkland when the landfill closes. Several environmental groups, including the Committee for Green Foothills and the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society, had also come out against Measure E. "I think the proponents will be happy for a very short time and the opponents will be disappointed for a very short time," said Bob Power, executive director of the Audubon Society. "Very soon, the (city's) planning department will find itself involved in a project that is nonexistent at a cost that is incomprehensible." The fight between the two green camps is expected to continue for many months. Renzel said there are a "million steps we can do" in the fight to save the 10 acres of parkland. She said using the site would require the city to remove about 9 acres of garbage that was buried at the site. "That would mean 3.5 million cubic feet of garbage would have to be moved into the existing 42 acres of the park," said Renzel, who joined opponents of Measure E at the home of Enid Pearson. "It's very complex. They will need to get state approval for doing the landfill." "We haven't lost yet -- until the fat lady sings," Renzel said. Staff writers Gennady Sheyner and Sue Dremann can be emailed at gsheyner@paweekly.com and sdremann@paweekly.com.
S
tate Sen. Joe Simitian announced his candidacy for Santa Clara County supervisor Sunday morning (Nov. 6), at an annual fund-raising brunch in Palo Alto. He will be vying for the District 5 seat that current Santa Clara County Supervisor Liz Kniss will be termed out of. "Our county government deals with some of the state's greatest challenges, including health care, welfare, public safety, and regional land use," Simitian stated in a press release. "More than 1.7 million county residents expect county government to deliver real results on a daily basis. I look forward to being part of that effort." Simitian is serving his final term in the California State Senate. An election will be held in June 2012, with Simitian now the clear frontrunner. Mountain View City Council member Margaret Abe-Koga
declared her candidacy for the seat in September. Mountain View Vice Mayor Mike Kasperzak and Mountain View council member Laura Macias also expressed interest, though both said Simitian's decision would deter them. "If Joe runs, I'm definitely not running," Kasperzak said. "If he runs, he'll be the hands-down winner." "I believe that Joe Simitian is the best person to serve in the county seat," Macias said. "His ability to cut through extraneous data and see a practical solution is second to none." District Five 5 incorporates Cupertino, Saratoga, Los Altos and Los Altos Hills, the northwestern half of Sunnyvale, Mountain View and Palo Alto. Simitian's public-service career has its roots in Palo Alto. He served on the Board of Education, including as president; City Council, infort but supported placing the item on the ballot, said he hopes other processes, including mandatory mediation, could help in future negotiations. "I'm interested in seeing how the process would go forward because we just removed the only local process we had for public-safety employees," Yeh said. "I think what's most important is that the entire council does value our police and firefighters," he added. "They are valued members of our community, and we're committed to make sure they'll still be treated fairly." Supporters of Measure D gathered at the home of city resident Tony Glaves to celebrate the overwhelming victory. The measure achieved 7,997 "yes" votes to 3,889 "no" votes by the end of the evening. Roughly 2,000 absentee and provisional ballots from Palo Alto are still left to be counted, according to Elaine Larson with the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters. Councilman Greg Scharff, who led the repeal effort with Councilwoman Karen Holman, was among of the city's compost operation. The landfill's closure means the city has to ship its compost to Gilroy. While park preservationists see this as a viable regional solution to the city's waste problems, other environmentalists view it as a slap in the face for a city that champions "zero waste" and reduction of carbon emissions. A new waste facility would convert local yard trimmings and food scraps into energy. The measure had received endorsements from a wide range of environmental groups, including Acterra and the Green Party of Santa Clara County. Dozens of Measure E supporters gathered at the home of Michael Santullo to await election results and celebrate victory. Carolyn Curtis, a volunteer who led the petition
cluding a term as mayor; the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors; and State Assembly. He was elected to the California State Senate in November 2004 to represent the 11th State Senate District, which includes portions of San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties. He has also served as an election observer/supervisor in El Salvador and Bosnia, and he participated in refugee relief and resettlement efforts in Albania and Kosovo. A website has been launched for Simitian's campaign at www. joesimitian.com. Among the more than 200 attendees of the event at the Lucie Stern Community Center were U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, and Kniss. Daniel DeBolt of the Mountain View Voice contributed to this report. those attending the victory party. Scharff said he believes the repeal of binding arbitration will make labor negotiations much easier in the future because it would force the two sides to work through the collectivebargaining process. He said the repeal of the provision would make prolonged impasses like the one that halted the labor negotiations over the past two years increasingly unlikely. Repealing binding arbitration, he said, would also help ensure that all of the city's labor groups are treated equally. "We want to have the best publicsafety departments in the country, and we will treat our employees fairly," Scharff said. Holman had argued that binding arbitration is undemocratic because it takes decisions relating to the budget out of the council's hands and gives it to arbitrators. She said Tuesday that the repeal of binding arbitration will give the city more control over its budget. "This kind of a result is reassuring and reaffirming of the direction we were trying to take," Holman said. drive to get Measure E on the ballot, said the early results confirmed what she's been hearing during the signature-gathering effort. "People don't like the idea of shipping their waste and having someone else take care of it," Curtis said. Sunny Dykwel, a Parks and Recreation commissioner, said the new plant, if built, would both help the environment and showcase Palo Alto's clean-tech leadership. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Dykwel said. "And this is just a half of 1 percent of the park." Park conservationists were less sanguine about the measure's passage. Over the past year, they persistently argued that building a waste facility
C
Measure D
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of Santa Clara County, Vice Mayor Yiaway Yeh and Councilwoman Gail Price, with many opponents comparing the labor-reform measure to the efforts of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to take away the collectivebargaining rights of state workers. Tony Spitaleri, president of the firefighters union, said Tuesday he was disappointed with the results of the election and attributed it to misinformation and mischaracterization of firefighter salaries and benefits from the media and from the "Yes on D" camp. Spitaleri said it's too early to tell what impact the repeal of binding arbitration would have on labor negotiations between the city and the union. "We were hoping the information would get out correctly," Spitaleri said. "We were dealing with facts and hoping people in Palo Alto would have a fair system. "Unfortunately, it's the mood of the country." Yeh, who opposed the repeal ef-
Measure E
(continued from page 3)
before the three-day weekend. Bob Wenzlau, who pioneered the city's curbside-recycling program and who co-wrote the initiative, said he was heartened by the election result. "The only question now is how to get this thing built and how to get the City Council around to the will of the voters," Wenzlau said. City officials have been wrestling with the dilemma of what to do about the city's compost for more than two years and, Measure E's passage notwithstanding, remain far from a resolution. The debate was prompted by the July closure of the city's landfill at Byxbee Park -- the former site
Page 8
Upfront
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News Digest
Man dies at El Camino Real bus stop in Palo Alto
A man died on El Camino Real, near California Avenue in Palo Alto, in a collision with a Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) bus Tuesday afternoon. The male pedestrian was discovered at about 1:30 p.m. by the driver of the VTA Rapid Transit 522 bus, which was in the process of pulling out from the stop between California and Cambridge avenues, said Brandi Childress, VTA spokeswoman. The driver, she said, felt a bump near the rear wheels of the bus. "The operator was pulling out from the stop, and he immediately pulled over the coach," Childress said. "He felt something." Daniel Montalvo, who was crossing El Camino Real around the time of the incident, said he saw the body of the victim lying prone in the middle of the block, his body perpendicular to the curb and his legs on the sidewalk. Mondalvo described the victim as a male, possibly in his 40s. Montalvo said he saw a parking-enforcement officer drive up to the body and stop to examine it. Minutes later, officers pulled up in a cruiser and covered the body with a yellow tarp, Montalvo said. No one made any attempt to resuscitate the victim, he said. The police department's Specialized Traffic Accident Reconstruction (STAR) Team is investigating the incident and is asking any witnesses to call agents Craig Lee or Jason Jenkins at 650-329-2413. Witnesses can also send anonymous emails and text messages to paloalto@tipnow.org. -- Gennady Sheyner and Tyler Hanley
408.739.6200 www.eyelink.com
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Parents launch annual PiE `Donation Days'
Parent volunteers will be out in force from now until Nov. 18, drumming up donations for Palo Alto Partners in Education (PiE), an independent foundation benefiting Palo Alto public schools. This year's PiE fundraising goal is $3.9 million, the highest ever. Several families have teamed up to offer a dollar-for-dollar match of up to $250,000 for any donations received between Nov. 9 and Nov. 18. PiE raises money district-wide, and proceeds are allocated on a perstudent basis to each elementary, middle and high school. The foundation also awards grants to teachers for classroom projects. Last year, the record-breaking $3.4 million that PiE raised from 4,000 donors was targeted to a range of school needs, including elementary classroom aides and science enrichment, middle school counseling and electives and high school guidance and career-technology electives. PiE's "suggested donation per student in family" this year is $800. That compares with a $500 to $2,000-per-student "ask" from other local foundations. PiE's $3.4 million contribution makes up about 2 percent of the school district's $162.4 million operating budget for 2011-12. -- Chris Kenrick
Lucile Packard Children's Hospital offers classes and seminars designed to foster good health and enhance the lives of parents and children.
SIBLING PREPARATION CLASS
DADS OF DAUGHTERS
Mountain View dumps Palo Alto animal control
Mountain View decided to break off its 18-year relationship with Palo Alto Animal Services, with City Council members voting unanimously Nov. 1 to approve a contract with a cheaper and more attractive Santa Clara-based agency. The council decision left Palo Alto on the hook for an estimated $7 million cost to renovate its East Bayshore Road animal shelter. Palo Alto officials say facility is dated and in need of seismic retrofitting. While Palo Alto had promised Mountain View would not have to pay that cost, Mountain View council members were skeptical and its staff estimated that it could cost Mountain View as much as $2 million. Mountain View also pays Palo Alto more than $400,000 a year for the services the animal shelter provides, but the move to Santa Clara would save $50,000 a year on average after a $300,000 investment in new equipment and facilities is paid off in five years. Palo Alto Police Capt. Bob Beacom said Mountain View's decision represents a significant revenue loss for Palo Alto, where officials will now consider new partnerships, changes in services or both. He said Mountain View is obligated by its contract to give Palo Alto a year notice before it withdraws from the partnership. He also said the facility, while dated, remains fully functional. "We're going to scramble," Beacom said. "We'll go quickly and work through a lot of the issues and study and evaluate them." Mountain View council members noted details about Silicon Valley Animal Control Authority that had won them over, such as a website feature that allows people to go online if they've lost an animal and see pictures of the animals that have been picked up and where they were found, mentioned by Mayor Jac Siegel. The only drawbacks noted about Silicon Valley Animal Control Authority were the costs for some services, such as a $150 adoption fee, which is higher than Palo Alto's $100 fee. Palo Alto's animal shelter also services Los Altos and Los Altos Hills. -- Daniel DeBolt and Gennady Sheyner
LET'S DISCUSS: Read the latest local news headlines and talk about the issues at Town Square at PaloAltoOnline.com
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Page 9
Upfront
CityView
A round-up of
EDUCATION
Palo Alto government action this week
Achievement-test results spark heated discussion
Stellar averages make good students feel like `amateur athletes in an Olympic village'
by Chris Kenrick esponding to criticism that he's excessively focused on test scores, Palo Alto Unified School District Superintendent Kevin Skelly said Tuesday (Nov. 8) that supporting struggling students as well as top achievers is a central challenge for the school district. The discussion followed a presentation to the Board of Education on SAT and Advanced Placement data for the Gunn and Palo Alto high school class of 2011. The presentation noted an increasing number of students -- 75 percent -- enrolling in AP classes and passing at least one AP exam. "We don't want every kid to take AP classes," Skelly said. "Kids can get a fine education here without that. "But this (SAT averages and AP participation) is data we want people to know about. We're not emphasizing it. We just think people are curious about this stuff, and it gives families and students information about what their world looks like." Tuesday's annual presentation of high school test data portrayed a district with SAT averages so high that a student in Palo Alto's 25th percentile ranks in the state's 75th percentile. A student in Palo Alto's 75th percentile, with a combined SAT score of 2180 out of a possible 2400, ranks in the top 2 percent nationally, board members said. That rarefied atmosphere makes many otherwise excellent students feel like "amateur athletes in an Olympic village," said board mem-
City Council (Nov. 7)
Crossing guards: The council approved a contract with American Guard Services to oversee the city's school crossing-guard program. Yes: Unanimous Bike plan: The council directed staff to solicit more input about the city's proposed Bike and Pedestrian Master Plan from local commissions and stakeholders. Yes: Unanimous
Board of Education (Nov. 8)
R
Student achievement: The board discussed a report on SAT and Advanced Placement test results for the Class of 2011. Action: None Facilities bond: The board heard reports from the Citizens' Oversight Committee for the Strong Schools Bond and from auditors of the bond fund's financial transactions. Action: None Summer School: The board heard a report about results from 2011 Summer School, and plans for 2012 Summer School, with a variety of programs proposed between June 18 and July 27. Action: None
Planning & Transportation Commission (Nov. 9)
Joint meeting: The commission held a joint meeting with the Architectural Review Board. Action: None
LET'S DISCUSS: Read the latest local news headlines and talk about the issues at Town Square at PaloAltoOnline.com
Public Agenda
A preview of Palo Alto government meetings next week
CITY COUNCIL ... The council plans to hold a joint session with the Architectural Review Board; discuss revisions to the Rail Committee's guiding principles and hold a closed session to discuss labor negotiations. The joint session will begin at 6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 14, in the Council Conference Room at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.). The rest of the meeting will be held in the Council Chambers. The closed session will follow the regular meeting. COUNCIL FINANCE COMMITTEE ... The committee plans to discuss the Electric Overhead to Undergrounding Conversion Program; consider a report on the city's Ultra High-Speed Broadband System Project; and discuss the proposed PaloAltoGreen Local Energy Program. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 15, in the Council Conference Room at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.). COUNCIL POLICY AND SERVICES COMMITTEE ... The committee plans to discuss a proposed ordinance regarding vehicle dwelling and hear updates on the Magical Bridge Playground project and Project Safety Net. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 15, in the Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.). HISTORIC RESOURCES BOARD ... The board plans to discuss 1213 Newell Road, proposed modifications to the Main Library, Art Center and community gardens. The meeting will begin at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 16, in the Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.). CITY-SCHOOL LIAISON COMMITTEE ... The committee will discuss public facilities inventory planning, information technology dark fiber infrastructure, and energy efficiency and sustainability. The meeting will begin at 8 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 17, in Conference Room A of school district headquarters (25 Churchill Ave.). ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW BOARD ... The board plans to discuss 3431 Hillview Ave., a proposal by VMWare to renovate several buildings, construct two new office buildings and two amenity buildings and build three new parking structures; and 4214 El Camino Real, a proposal by OTO Development on behalf of Schnell Brothers Properties for a four-story, 178room Hilton Garden Inn. The meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 17, in the Council Conference Room at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.). RAIL CORRIDOR STUDY TASK FORCE ... The task force will continue its discussion of the city's land-use vision for the Caltrain corridor. The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 17, in the Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.). PUBLIC ART COMMISSION ... The commission plans to discuss maintenance of the city's art collection, the upcoming meeting to discuss a mural at the new Mitchell Park Library and Community Center teen room, El Camino Park and the commission's procedures and protocols. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 17, in the Council Conference Room at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.). LIBRARY ADVISORY COMMISSION ... The commission plans to hear presentations on youth services, e-readers and strategic planning training and discuss its annual joint meeting with the City Council in December. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 17, in the Downtown Library (270 Forest Ave.).
ber Barbara Klausner. Skelly and board members said publication of the test data is useful in helping students and families grasp what kind of community they're operating in. Seven parent members of a group called We Can Do Better Palo Alto said the district's "choice of measurement -- SAT and AP test score -- is not just incorrect, but harmful." "You talk of broadened access (to AP classes), and I call it increased stress," said parent Michele Dauber, a Stanford Law School professor and co-organizer of the group. "The picture I see is increasing stress and ramping up the stresso-meter on our kids right at a time when we should be looking for ways to turn it down." Parent Wynn Hausser, a member of the group, said the presentation slide lauding "two extraordinary schools" should have been titled "an extraordinary gene pool. "We're talking about people who would be successful regardless of the quality of the schools, in many cases," Hausser said, suggesting that Palo Alto emulate another highachieving public school system, Scarsdale, N.Y., which eliminated its AP program in 2007. Group member Kathy Sharp said many top achievers benefit from expensive tutoring while the school district is "not serving our economically disadvantaged population well." We Can Do Better members urged the district to broaden its definition of success by adopting other metrics, such as a student's GPA trajec-
tory and successful completion of a course sequence. While agreeing they would like to explore other measures of student success, including GPA trajectories and extracurricular activities, board members defended publication of the SAT and AP test data. "For better or worse, this is the environment our kids are being raised in," Klausner said. "We don't want to raise the stress level of our students, but I think it's a very complicated issue." Noting the stubborn persistence of an achievement gap, particularly among African-American and Hispanic students, Klausner suggested that the board spend time taking a focused look at the district's African-American and Hispanic students, who respectively comprise 3.2 percent and 10.4 percent of current enrollment. With parents who had 8th grade educations and little wealth, board Vice-President Camille Townsend said she applauds "when I see access to AP classes for kids who may not look the part." "We walk a tightrope in this town," Board President Melissa Baten Caswell said. "These are conversations our community needs to have, and be cognizant that it's a double-edged sword in our schools. If we can offer our students opportunities and support, with resilience and strong mental health -- then we're staying on the right side of it." Staff Writer Chris Kenrick can be emailed at ckenrick@paweekly. com.
CITY HALL
Changing of crossing guards vexes parents
Palo Alto gets new crossing-guard manager for the first time since 1999
by Gennady Sheyner
F
or the first time in more than a decade, Palo Alto is preparing to hire a new company to manage its ranks of school crossing guards -- and not everyone is thrilled about the change. Dozens of parents attended the Monday night (Nov. 7) City Council meeting to urge the council not to make a switch from the present company, All City Management Services, which has been managing the city's crossing-guard program since the Police Department privatized the service in 1999. This year, the city went out to bid on the contract, as it has in the past, and received responses from eight companies, four of which had lower costs than the incumbent. The council voted unanimously to support a staff recommendation and award a contract to American
Guard Services, the company with the lowest bid. It reached this decision despite oral and written arguments from dozens of parents who claimed the transition would threaten the safety of their children. Many speakers who opposed the change pointed to Michael Saterfield, a crossing guard who mans the intersection near Terman Middle School. One parent after another praised Saterfield for his ability to command the attention of students and drivers and for keeping the busy stretch of Arastradero Road safe. Stacey Ashlund, whose daughter is in fourth grade at Juana Briones Elementary School, was among them. "I let her cross Arastradero by herself for only one reason -- Michael is his name," Ashlund told the council. "I see no rebellion at that
intersection. I see happy compliance. What I wouldn't give for that in my household?" American Guard Services offered jobs to current crossing guards, but only under lower wages. Saterfield said the proposed rate was far below the existing one. While the current management company offered in its bid to pay crossing guards $14.39 per hour in the first year and $14.75 in each of the following two years, American Guard proposed a rate of $13.25 an hour in the first two years and $13.51 in the third year. Saterfield also addressed the council during the public comment period and urged council members to renew All City's contract. "I think that safety is the issue here and we provided that safety
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Upfront
COMMUNITY MEETING
doesn't stretch beyond Feb. 1. Council members also urged some of the crossing guards in attendance, including Saterfield, to stick around, even if it means lower wages. "We want to retain the workers and especially the superstar workers," Mayor Sid Espinosa said. "I heard tonight and previously that current workers, most if not all, will be offered roles with the new company and we hope they take it because we appreciate your service and we know you work hard for the citizens and for our youth -- ensuring our safety." Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be emailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com.
Crossing guards
(continued from previous page)
TALK ABOUT IT
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Join the community discussion on the proposed playground renovations at the Ventura Community Center Wednesday, November 16, 2011, 6:30 PM Ventura Community Center in the Ventura Activity Center Hall 3990 Ventura Court Palo Alto, CA 94306
The City of Palo Alto seeks public input on the proposed renovations to the playground area & play field
Meeting hosted by City of Palo Alto Public Works (650) 617-3183 Email pwecips@cityofpaloalto.org for more information.
and we will continue to provide that safety," Saterfield told the council. "I don't think it's a matter of dollars and cents when it comes to safety of children." Despite this chorus of opposition, the council opted to accept staff recommendation and award the contract to the lower bidder. Police Lt. Ron Watson told the council that American Guard Services appears well qualified to handle the assignment, which includes commandeering 29 school-area crosswalks. Staff members also reached out to other cities that have worked with this company and were assured that American Guard's operations were smooth. Under the contract the council approved Monday night, American Guard will receive about $290,000 per year, 8.6 percent less than All City Management would have received under its bid. Councilmen Larry Klein and Greg Scharff both argued that the city should honor its commitment to an open bidding process for government contracts. "Having a process that says we'll go to the lowest responsible bidder has served us well," Klein said.
"There's been a lot of talk tonight about Michael's great services and I'm delighted to hear about that," he added. "But that can't possibly be a way for a government agency to make policy." Others agreed that the city should follow its usual procedures and award the contract to the lowest responsible bidder. City Manager James Keene said the city owes it to its citizens to get the best value. Scharff said no company in their right mind would be willing to bid against an incumbent company knowing that the council could reject its bid "on a whim." "If we go with a non-lowest responsible bidder, we design a process that forces the current company to win the bid," Scharff said. Some council members, including Vice Mayor Yiaway Yeh, voiced concerns about the staff proposal to make the switch on Dec. 1, a timeline that Yeh said doesn't provide adequate time for a smooth transition. The council agreed to give staff leeway about extending the timeline as needed, provided the process
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These and other news stories were posted on Palo Alto Online throughout the week. For longer versions, go to www.PaloAltoOnline.com/news or click on "News" in the left, green column.
Online This Week
Two students advance to national science finals
Two students from high schools in Palo Alto have advanced to the finals of a national science competition with their data project aimed at identifying premature babies most likely to develop severe gastrointestinal disease. (Posted Nov. 7 at 9:50 a.m.)
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Car flips in Friday crash on Embarcadero
The driver of a Pontiac Grand Prix walked away with minor injuries late Friday (Nov. 4) after the car hit the center median on Embarcadero Road and rolled over, Palo Alto police said. (Posted Nov. 6 at 3:24 p.m.)
VIDEO: Crowd gathers for `Occupy Palo Alto' event
Members of the Peninsula Peace and Justice Center led an "Occupy Palo Alto" event Saturday (Nov. 5) at King Plaza in front of Palo Alto City Hall. (Posted Nov. 6 at 1:06 p.m.)
Boesch resigns as San Mateo County manager
David Boesch, the current San Mateo County manager and former Menlo Park city manager, will resign the county post Dec. 31, the county announced Friday (Nov. 4). (Posted Nov. 5 at 1:46 p.m.)
`Lost interview' with Jobs to screen in Palo Alto
A "lost interview" with the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs will be screened in Palo Alto Nov. 16 and 17. Parts of the 70-minute interview, conducted between Jobs' two stints at Apple, were used in the 1996 miniseries "Triumph of the Nerds: The Rise of Accidental Empires."
(Posted Nov. 4 at 2:02 p.m.)
Los Altos woman accused of attempted murder
A Los Altos woman accused of stabbing her estranged husband in September at the business they owned in Redwood City pleaded not guilty Thursday (Nov. 3) to attempted murder charges, prosecutors said. (Posted Nov. 4 at 10:30 a.m.)
Three cars crash into Anthropologie in Palo Alto
Three vehicles swerved into the Anthropologie clothing store at 999 Alma St. in downtown Palo Alto Friday morning (Nov. 4), startling two managers who were preparing to open the store, a manager said.
(Posted Nov. 4 at 9:55 a.m.)
Page 11
Pulse
POLICE CALLS
Palo Alto
Nov. 2-8
Violence related Domestic violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Elder abuse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Family violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Theft related Checks forgery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Commercial burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Embezzlement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Identity theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
A weekly compendium of vital statistics
Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Prowler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Residential burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Shoplifting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Vehicle related Abandoned auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Bicycle theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Driving w/ suspended license. . . . . . . . .5 Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Misc. traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Theft from auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Vehicle accident/minor injury . . . . . . . . .1 Vehicle accident/property damage. . . . .8 Vehicle evade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Vehicle impound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Alcohol or drug related Drunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Drunken driving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Possession of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Possession of paraphernalia. . . . . . . . . .1 Sale of drugs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Miscellaneous Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Misc. penal code violation . . . . . . . . . . .1 Misc. municipal code violation . . . . . . . .2 Psychiatric hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Unattended death. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Warrant arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Warrant/other agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Menlo Park
Nov. 2-8
Violence related Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Theft related Burglary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Grand theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Vehicle related Auto theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Driving w/suspended license . . . . . . . . .3 Failure to yield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Theft from auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Vehicle accident/injury . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Vehicle accident/non injury. . . . . . . . . . .3 Vehicle accident/prop. damage . . . . . . .3 Vehicle tow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Alcohol or drug related Drug activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Drug registrant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Drunken driving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Miscellaneous Disturbance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Information case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Medical aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Mental evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Missing person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Other/misc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Outside assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Suspicious circumstances . . . . . . . . . . .1 Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Violation of court order . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Warrant arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Atherton
Nov. 2-8
Violence related Assault and battery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Child/elder abuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Theft related Burglary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Vehicle related Parking problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Ticket sign-off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Vehicle accident/non-injury . . . . . . . . . .3 Vehicle code violation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Vehicle/traffic hazard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Alcohol or drug related Driving under influence of drugs/alcohol 1 Drunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Miscellaneous Animal call. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Citizen assist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Civil matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Disturbance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Juvenile problem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Medical aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Other/misc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Suspicious vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Trespassing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
VIOLENT CRIMES
Palo Alto Unlisted block La Para Avenue, 11/2, 5:15 p.m.; elder abuse.
Unlisted block El Camino Real, 11/4, 9:19 p.m.; domestic violence. Unlisted block South Court, 11/7, 8:19 p.m.; domestic violence.
Menlo Park
Unlisted block Hamilton Avenue, 11/2, 5:01 p.m.; battery. 100 block Hamilton Avenue, 11/3, 3:51 p.m.; battery.
PALO ALTO CITY COUNCIL CIVIC CENTER, 250 HAMILTON AVENUE BROADCAST LIVE ON KZSU, FM 90.1 CABLECAST LIVE ON GOVERNMENT ACCESS CHANNEL 26 ***************************************** THIS IS A SUMMARY OF COUNCIL AGENDA ITEMS. THE AGENDA WITH COMPLETE TITLES INCLUDING LEGAL DOCUMENTATION CAN BE VIEWED AT THE BELOW WEBPAGE: http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/knowzone/agendas/council.asp
(TENTATIVE) SPECIAL MEETING-COUNCIL CONFERENCE ROOM November 14, 2011 - 6:00 PM 1. Joint meeting with ARB 7:00 PM - COUNCIL CHAMBERS Study Session with Pacific Gas & Electric Company on Gas Transmission Lines SPECIAL ORDERS OF THE DAY 2. Community Presentation by the Downtown Street Teams 3. Resolution Expressing Appreciation to Sandra Brown Upon Her Retirement 4. Resolution Expressing Appreciation to Scott Wong Upon His Retirement 5. Appointment of Three Parks and Recreation Commissioners to Serve in Terms Ending on December 31, 2014 6. Appointment of One Public Art Commissioner to Serve in One Unexpired Term Ending on April 30, 2012 CONSENT 7. Finance Committee Recommendation to Accept the City Auditor's Office Fiscal Year 2012 Proposed Workplan 8. Approval of a Refuse Enterprise Fund Contract with Golder Associates Inc. in a Not to Exceed Amount of $408,389 for Professional Services for the Palo Alto Landfill Final Closure Design of Phase IIC (CIP RF-11001) 9. Approval of a BAO for staffing changes in the Development Center 10. Approval of a Contract with Signs & Services, Inc. in the Amount of $474,403 for Signage for the Mitchell Park Library and Community Center (CIP PE-09006 and LB-11000) 11. Adoption of a Budget Amendment Ordinance in the Amount of $111,487.75 to Fund the Purchase of seven (7) Diesel Particulate Filter Devices; the Approval of a Purchase Order with Emissions Retrofit Group in an Amount Not to Exceed $60,550.72 for the purchase and installation of four (4) Diesel Particulate Filter Devices and the Approval of a Purchase Order with Diesel Emission Service in an amount not to exceed $50,937.03 for the purchase and installation of three (3) Diesel Particulate Filter Devices (Vehicle Replacement Fund Capital Improvement Project VR-07002) 12. Approval of Contract in the amount of $107,744 with Downtown Streets Team for Janitorial Services for the City's Five Downtown Parking Garages, Downtown Sidewalks and Alleys 13. Approval of a letter selecting Gail Price as our City representative to the North County Group (#5) and the VTA Board of Directors ACTION 14. Approval of the Highway 101 Pedestrian/Bicycle Over/Undercrossing Feasibility Study and Recommendation of the Preferred Option 15. Approval of Revised Rail Committee Guiding Principles CLOSED SESSION 16. Closed Session: Labor STANDING COMMITTEE MEETINGS The Special Policy & Services Committee will meet on Tuesday, November 15, 2011 at 6:00 P.M. in the Council Chambers regarding: 1) Status Report Update on Human Habitation of Vehicles, 2) Update on the Magical Bridge Playground Project, and 3) Project Safety Net Staffing Update. The Finance Committee will meet on Tuesday, November 15, 2011 at 7:00 P.M. in the Council Conference Room regarding: 1) Update Report on the Electric Overhead to Undergrounding Conversion Program, 2) Report on the Citywide Ultra High-Speed Broadband System Project, 3) First Quarter Financial Results, and 4) Utilities Advisory Commission Recommendation to Approve Implementation Documents Including the Rate Rule and Regulation and Agreement to Implement the Proposed PaloAltoGreen Local Energy Program. The City Council Rail Committee will meet on Wednesday, November 16, 2011 at 8:00 A.M. in the Council Conference Room. The City/School Committee will meet on Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 8:00 A.M. at 25 Churchill Avenue.
Palo Alto Unified School District
Notice is hereby Given to Subcontractors, that proposals will be received by the Palo Alto Unified School District from pre-qualified General Contractors for bid package: Contract No. JMS-11 DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK: The work includes, but is not limited to: The phased construction of a new single story Classroom building, a single story Multi-Purpose addition, remodeling of various classroom, locker room, restroom, and library areas, HVAC and roofing installations, ADA upgrades and seismic retrofitting in addition to associated site work, landscaping and other improvements at David Starr Jordan Middle School. Bidding documents contain the full description of the work. There will be a mandatory pre-bid conference and site visit at 3:30 p.m. on November 22, 2011 at Jordan Middle School at 750 N. California Ave., Palo Alto, California Bid Submission: Proposals must be received at the District Facilities Office, 25 Churchill Ave., Building D, Palo Alto, CA by 10:00 a.m. on December 8, 2011. PREVAILING WAGE LAWS: The successful Bidder must comply with all prevailing wage laws applicable to the Project, and related requirements contained in the Contract Documents. Palo Alto Unified School District will maintain a Labor Compliance Program (LCP) for the duration of this project. In bidding this project, the contractor warrants he/she is aware and will follow the Public Works Chapter of the California Labor Code comprised of labor code sections 1720 � 1861. A copy of the Districts LCP is available for review at 25 Churchill Avenue, Building D, Palo Alto, CA 94306. 1. A pre-job conference shall be conducted with the contractor or subcontractors to discuss federal and state labor law requirements applicable to the contract. 2. Project contractors and subcontracts shall maintain and furnish to the District, at a designated time, a certified copy of each payroll with a statement of compliance signed under penalty of perjury. 3. The District shall review and, if appropriate, audit payroll records to verify compliance with the Public Works Chapter of the Labor Code. 4. The District shall withhold contract payments if payroll records are delinquent or inadequate. 5. The District shall withhold contract payments as described in the LCP, including applicable penalties when the District and Labor Commissioner establish that underpayment of other violations has occurred. Bidders may examine Bidding Documents at Facilities Office, Building "D". Bidders may purchase copies of Plans and Specifications at ARC, 599 Fairchild Drive, Mountain View, CA 94043, Phone: (650) 967-1966 All questions can be addressed to: Palo Alto Unified School District 25 Churchill Avenue, Building D Palo Alto, CA 94306-1099 Attn: Heidi Rank Phone: (650) 329-3927 Fax: (650) 327-3588
Atherton
Unlisted block Fairview Avenue, 11/2, 1:06 p.m.; child/elder abuse. Unlisted block Selby Lane, 11/3, 12:37 p.m.; assault and battery. Menlo Atherton High School Middlefield Avenue, 11/4, 11:19 a.m.; assault and battery.
Support Local Business
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Transitions
Births, marriages and deaths
John McCarthy
John McCarthy, a retired Stanford University computer science professor, 84, died in his sleep Oct. 24, 2011. McCarthy, who retired in 2000 after teaching 38 years at Stanford, was a major figure in the field of artificial intelligence. He first proposed the term as the title for a computer conference at Dartmouth College back in the 1950s. At the time, he wrote, "The study is to proceed on the basis of the conjecture that every aspect of learning or any other feature of intelligence can in principle be so precisely described that a machine can be made to simulate it." He was born in Boston in 1927 and graduated from high school in Los Angeles. He earned an undergraduate degree in mathematics from the California Institute of Technology and a PhD in mathematics from Princeton University. He was named a distinguished alumnus by Caltech. McCarthy designed the LISP programming language in 1958 while a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The language is still in use today. He also developed the idea of computer time sharing around that time. McCarthy started Stanford's Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in 1965 and directed it until 1980. McCarthy garnered attention in 1966 by hosting a series of four simultaneous computer chess matches carried out via telegraph against rivals in Russia. The matches, played with two pieces per side, lasted several months. McCarthy lost two of the matches and drew two. McCarthy would later develop the first "hand-eye" computer system in which a computer was able to see real 3D blocks via a video camera and control a robotic arm to complete simple stacking and arrangement exercises. One project that McCarthy returned to near the end of his life was a paper he had written in the early 1970s exploring the practicality of interstellar travel. He wrote: "We show that interstellar travel is entirely feasible with only small improvements in present technology provided travel times of several hundred to several thousand years are accepted." McCarthy was known as well for wanting to bring scientific rigor to every aspect of life and for his wry, often self-deprecating sense of humor. This humor was perhaps best exemplified in a personal philosophy he termed "radical optimism" -- a positive outlook so strong that McCarthy believed that "everything would be OK even if his advice were not followed," said daughter Susan McCarthy. "And, he was a loving father, too." He received the A.M. Turing Award of the Association for Computing Machinery in 1971 and was president of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence in the 1980s. He received the National Medal of Science in 1990, and was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences. He is survived by his third wife, Carolyn Talcott of Stanford; two daughters, Susan McCarthy of San Francisco and Sarah McCarthy of Nevada City; a son, Timothy Talcott McCarthy of Stanford; a brother, Patrick, of Los Angeles; two grandchildren, Kitty McCarthy of San Francisco and Joseph Gunther of New York City; and his first wife, Martha Coyote. A memorial service will be planned for a future date.
Memorial Services
A memorial service for Carolyn Goldenstein will be held Sunday, Nov. 13, at 1 p.m. at Sunnyview Retirement Community, 22445 Cupertino Road, Cupertino. The family suggests that donations be sent to one of her favorite charities, such as www.panamhealth.org. A memorial service for Diana Steeples will be held at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 12, at the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Palo Alto, 505 E. Charleston Road. Memorial gifts in her honor may be sent to Avenidas, 450 Bryant Street, Palo Alto 94301, or Abilities United, 525 E. Charleston Road, Palo Alto 94306.
www.restorationstudio.com
Palo Alto Unified School District
Notice is hereby Given to Subcontractors, that proposals will be received by the Palo Alto Unified School District from pre-qualified General Contractors for bid package: Contract No. TMS-11 DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK: The work includes, but is not limited to: The phased construction of a new single story Drama building, a single story Library addition, remodeling of various office, restroom, kitchen, lounge and classroom areas, HVAC installations and seismic upgrading in addition to associated site work, landscaping and other improvements at Terman Middle School. Bidding documents contain the full description of the work. There will be a mandatory pre-bid conference and site visit at 3:30 p.m. on November 15, 2011 at Terman Middle School, 655 Arastradero Ave., Palo Alto, California. Bid Submission: Proposals must be received at the District Facilities Office, 25 Churchill Ave., Building D, Palo Alto, CA by 10:00 a.m. on December 6, 2011. PREVAILING WAGE LAWS: The successful Bidder must comply with all prevailing wage laws applicable to the Project, and related requirements contained in the Contract Documents. Palo Alto Unified School District will maintain a Labor Compliance Program (LCP) for the duration of this project. In bidding this project, the contractor warrants he/she is aware and will follow the Public Works Chapter of the California Labor Code comprised of labor code sections 1720 � 1861. A copy of the Districts LCP is available for review at 25 Churchill Avenue, Building D, Palo Alto, CA 94306. 1. A pre-job conference shall be conducted with the contractor or subcontractors to discuss federal and state labor law requirements applicable to the contract. 2. Project contractors and subcontracts shall maintain and furnish to the District, at a designated time, a certified copy of each payroll with a statement of compliance signed under penalty of perjury. 3. The District shall review and, if appropriate, audit payroll records to verify compliance with the Public Works Chapter of the Labor Code. 4. The District shall withhold contract payments if payroll records are delinquent or inadequate. 5. The District shall withhold contract payments as described in the LCP, including applicable penalties when the District and Labor Commissioner establish that underpayment of other violations has occurred. Bidders may examine Bidding Documents at Facilities Office, Building "D". Bidders may purchase copies of Plans and Specifications at ARC, 599 Fairchild Drive, Mountain View, CA 94043, Phone: (650) 967-1966. All questions can be addressed to: Palo Alto Unified School District 25 Churchill Avenue, Building D Palo Alto, CA 94306-1099 Attn: Heidi Rank Phone: (650) 329-3927 Fax: (650) 327-3588
Contract No. FM-11
Palo Alto Unified School District
Notice is hereby given that proposals will be received by the Palo Alto Unified School District for the following bid package:
DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK: Construction of a new classroom building, addition to library, modernization to multiple existing buildings, site & landscape modernization. Work includes but is not limited to: demolition, abatement, excavation, site work, landscaping, irrigation, site utilities, concrete, structural steel, CMU, framing, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, finishes etc. Bidding documents contain the full description of the work. There will be a mandatory pre-bid conference and site visit at 3:00 p.m. on November 21, 2011 at Fairmeadow Elementary School located at 500 East Meadow Drive, Palo Alto, California 94306. Bid Submission: Proposals must be received at the District Facilities Office building D, by 3:30 p.m. on December 5, 2011. Pre-Qualified General Contractors: List of pre-qualified general contractors can be obtained by emailing request to ptiwana@pausd.org PREVAILING WAGE LAWS: The successful Bidder must comply with all prevailing wage laws applicable to the Project, and related requirements contained in the Contract Documents. Palo Alto Unified School District will maintain a Labor Compliance Program (LCP) for the duration of this project. In bidding this project, the contractor warrants he/she is aware and will follow the Public Works Chapter of the California Labor Code comprised of labor code sections 1720 � 1861. A copy of the Districts LCP is available for review at 25 Churchill Avenue, Building D, Palo Alto, CA 94306. 1. A pre-job conference shall be conducted with the contractor or subcontractors to discuss federal and state labor law requirements applicable to the contract. 2. Project contractors and subcontracts shall maintain and furnish to the District, at a designated time, a certified copy of each payroll with a statement of compliance signed under penalty of perjury. 3. The District shall review and, if appropriate, audit payroll records to verify compliance with the Public Works Chapter of the Labor Code. 4. The District shall withhold contract payments if payroll records are delinquent or inadequate. 5. The District shall withhold contract payments as described in the LCP, including applicable penalties when the District and Labor Commissioner establish that underpayment of other violations has occurred. Bidders may examine Bidding Documents at Facilities Office, Building "D". Bidders may purchase copies of Plans and Specifications at American Reprographics Company (ARC), 599 Fairchild Drive, Mountain View, CA 94043, Phone Number (650) 967-1966. All questions can be addressed to: Palo Alto Unified School District 25 Churchill Avenue, Building D Palo Alto, CA 94306-1099 Attn: Peter Tiwana ptiwana@pausd.org Phone: (650) 329-3927 Fax: (650) 327-3588
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Editorial Strong majority approve Measures D, E
Binding arbitration will end for public-safety unions; space reserved for compost facility
D
espite the absence of a City Council race on the ballot, Palo Alto voters strongly approved measures that will improve the city's oversight of its two public-safety unions and set the stage for a possible new method of dealing with its waste and compost. Both Measures D and E rolled up solid "yes" votes Tuesday in an election that split the environmental community (Measure E) and supporters of organized labor (Measure D). But in each case voters made the right call, ending binding arbitration for police and firefighters and making it possible to proceed with a thorough assessment of whether the city should invest in an anaerobic-digestion plant that would turn yard and food waste and sludge from the sewage-treatment plant into compost and energy. Both races were characterized by large infusions Palo Alto will of money on what turned out to be the losing side on start the new year Measure D and the winning without two major side on E. The firefighters union, which earlier had stumbling blocks surprised most observers in play -- binding by agreeing to a contract after a 16-month stand-off, arbitration and poured more than $60,000 minimum staffing. (as of the reporting period that ending Oct. 22) into the campaign to fight Measure D, which featured such Palo Alto luminaries as Gary Fazzino, Gail Price and LaDoris Cordell in slick campaign mailers urging voters to keep binding arbitration in the police and firefighters' contracts. Supporters of D, which was placed on the ballot by a slim majority of the City Council, argued that the city faced a major handicap in labor negotiations when the final say in a contract could be given to an outside arbitrator who has no responsibility for city finances or accountability to the public. And obviously voters saw the flaws in the argument that without the right to strike, police and fire employees have too little negotiating leverage, so need binding arbitration as the ultimate threat to assure fair negotiations. But with 95 percent of California cities operating without binding arbitration, that position is obviously flawed. And wages, health care and retirement benefits are better now for police and fire unions than ever before. With the firefighters sudden agreement on a new contract just prior to the election, Palo Alto will start the new year without two major stumbling blocks in play -- binding arbitration and minimum staffing. Now the city can decide how many firefighters are needed at each station and be able to work through labor negotiations without the threat of binding arbitration looming in the backround. The clash over Measure E split the local environmental community, with longtime activist and former Palo Alto Mayor Peter Drekmeier leading the way for those in favor of reserving a 10-acre site at the Baylands to possibly house an anaroebic composting facility, while Emily Renzel and Enid Pearson, the namesakes for two Palo Alto open space reserves, bitterly opposed the measure, which they see as an unrecoverable loss of precious parkland. In our editorial titled, "Yes on E, with caution," we explained that the measure does nothing more than reserve 10 acres as a possible site for a compost facility. If the city decides not to proceed with such an installation, the site would return to parkland after 10 years. Now the way is clear for the city to consider what could be an exciting new and innovative idea to turn yard and food waste, and possibly sewage sludge into compost and energy at a new facility. An earlier study did not provide enough information to make a good decision on what could cost the city millions of dollars. Delaying dedication of the 10 acres as parkland will simply give the city time to conduct a more definitive study and then decide if the best course is to build its own facility or continue to truck waste to the Sunnyvale SMaRT Station and Gilroy.
Spectrum
Editorials, letters and opinions
Free fuel?
Editor, The City of Palo Alto is offering free fuel for anyone that wants to fill up their car. There is one requirement -- The vehicle must run on electricity. There is a state law that requires cities to recover the full cost of anything provided to the citizens or public. The city is breaking state law -- simple as that. As a taxpayer, or utility-rate payer, I am directly paying for the fuel cost of other people's commute. Incentives for alternative fuel vehicles are nice but free electricity for anyone that wants to "fill up" at the city "gas" station really violates the Stewardship of the Public Trust. (BTW, Palo Alto residency is not required.) The city has expressed awareness that the state law prevents resources from being supplied to the public at less than full cost. That was the reason that the city first offered low rates for fueling natural-gas vehicles and then was "forced by the state law" to raise them to a rate that reflected the direct cost and overhead. It is important that the city encourages use of alternative fuel vehicles, but where is the consistency? And before we celebrate our greenness too much, we must remember that no mode of transportation represents an environmental free lunch. Incremental use causes a coal plant to be fired up somewhere. As residents, we must try to stop one financial leak at a time. I don't recall our city government approving this expenditure. The city must find a green path that honors reason and logic. Tim Gray Park Boulevard Palo Alto Arastradero/E. Charleston Corridor intersection is already congested during both the morning and evening commutes. In addition, children ride their bicycles to both Gunn High School and Terman Middle School during heavy traffic in the morning and return home in the middle of the afternoon. While some of the older students are more mature and cautious the younger ones are not. We urge extreme caution in allowing the hotel to proceed as currently planned. This is a matter of public safety. Even in these dark times the safety of the community cannot be sacrificed for the financial benefit of the city. Truett Ckuftib-Vizvary Rickey's Way Palo Alto
Veterans Day
Editor, Armistice Day (also known as Remembrance Day) is on Nov. 11 and commemorates the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compi�gne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month"
of 1918. World War I -- known at the time as "The Great War" -- officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier. For that reason, Nov. 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of "the war to end all wars." In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed Nov. 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day. In 1953, an Emporia, Kansas, man named Stephan Riod, the owner of a shoe-repair shop, had the idea to expand Armistice Day to celebrate all veterans, not just those who died in World War I. Congress amended this act on June 1, 1954, replacing "Armistice" with "Veterans," and it has been known as Veterans Day since. If you want a glimpse of what war is all about, go down and volunteer at one of our hundreds of veteran's hospitals. Talk to the vets and see what war has done to change their lives. See what the price is in limbs, eyes, and minds. Ted Rudow III Encina Avenue Palo Alto
YOUR TURN
The Palo Alto Weekly encourages comments on our coverage or on issues of local interest.
What do you think? Is it time to retire Paly and Gunn's "egg wars"?
Submit letters to the editor of up to 250 words to letters@paweekly.com. Include your name, address and daytime phone number so we can reach you. We reserve the right to edit contributions for length, objectionable content, libel and factual errors known to us. Anonymous letters will generally not be accepted. You can also participate in our popular interactive online forum, Town Square, at our community website at www.PaloAltoOnline.com. Read blogs, discuss issues, ask questions or express opinions with you neighbors any time, day or night. Submitting a letter to the editor or guest opinion constitutes a granting of permission to the Palo Alto Weekly and Embarcadero Media to also publish it online, including in our online archives and as a post on Town Square. For more information contact Editor Jocelyn Dong or Online Editor Tyler Hanley at editor@paweekly.com or 650-326-8210.
Hilton Garden Inn
Editor, We speak on behalf of the residents of south Palo Alto as well as those who commute to and from their place of work in Palo Alto and have no knowledge of the proposed construction of a major hotel on North El Camino Real at Arastradero Road. On their behalf we strongly protest the construction of a 178-room Hilton Garden Inn at this location in its current architectural design. We also protest the apparent cozy relationship between the Palo Alto Planning and Transportation Departments and the developer, Matt O'Shea of Tarzana. While we recognize that the city will benefit from the increase in revenue and jobs that will result from this major project, we feel that close scrutiny will be required on the part of the city to insure the safety of residents and the commuters. North El Camino Real at
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Check out Town Square!
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On Deadline
Greer Park -- A `Save Those Trees' battle that wasn't
S
by Jay Thorwaldson purred by news reports that 33 trees were going to be cut down in Greer Park in southeast Palo Alto, a group of citizens showed up at a meeting determined to save those trees. It was shaping up as another "tree battle" in the urban forest of Palo Alto, long known as "the city that loves trees." But after city staff members presented a detailed report about the condition of the trees and why individual trees should be removed -- illustrated with projected pictures of each tree -- there was a unanimous showing of hands in support of the staff's overall plan. A couple of exceptions were several healthy trees that might be saved and a request by one resident that the city consider planting extra trees beyond the planned 33 replacement trees. But there was a discernable shift among the two dozen people who showed up for the Oct. 18 evening session in the Friends Meeting Hall in south Palo Alto. At the outset, neighborhood leader Sheri Furman reminded folks that they were meeting in a religious building. With the exception of one snappish exchange between two attendees, the audience was attentive, polite, almost cordial despite a sense of suspicious tension. The outcome was a far cry from such
meetings in the past, and reflected the approach of meeting organizers Furman and Annette Glanckopf. The tone of the session also reflected the fact that many trees to be removed were sickly, such as a number of alder trees and some others. But the big "context" issue was that there were 313 other mature trees in the park, in addition to 74 newly planted trees, for a total of 387 trees. The size of the canopy (area shaded by the trees) is another way of viewing the matter: The removed trees would reduce the 99,000-square-foot canopy by about 2,500 square feet, but new trees would eventually add up to 18,000 square feet, according to staff estimates. In other words, this is not "another California Avenue" clear-cutting, as some residents initially feared -- referring to the all-at-once removal of 63 holly oak trees in the business stretch of California Avenue in mid-September 2009. That removal surprised both residents and top city officials. The outrage and suspicion sown by that incident have been slow to dispel, but in the two years since city officials have been trying to rebuild trust and assure residents they still care about the city's approximately 36,000 street trees and perhaps three times that number on private property. The city is now planning to hire an "urban forester" to supplement its two city arborists, David Dockter of the Planning and Transportation Department and recently-hired Peter Jensen of the Public Works Department. Jensen is both an arborist and a landscape architect. They and Eugene Segna and Elizabeth Ames of Public Works fielded questions and quietly began
the trust-building process at the Oct. 18 meeting. The current city effort to save a huge oak tree at 816 Cowper St. is part of that effort, although its fate still hangs in the balance pending a health assessment of the tree. Ironically, that tree is a remnant of a longago "tree battle" in Palo Alto: the 1917 "live oak" fight. That battle related to several hundred trees that grew in the middle of often-unpaved Palo Alto streets. It seems that they were getting hit regularly by early automobiles that, according to one story, were being driven home at night from the many bars in Mayfield -- now the California Avenue business district. It seems that horses would go around the trees irrespective of the level of inebriation of their riders or buggy drivers but "horseless carriages" failed. Residents rallied to save the trees and, while 60 or 70 were removed due to their condition, a couple of hundred were saved. Some still survive, such as the Cowper Street oak. An "explosion" of speeding cars (exceeding the 10-miles-per-hour speed limit) and their tree encounters was a significant problem for Palo Alto's then police chief, Chester Noble. I once wrote an obituary of a man who survived in his youth the first known bicycle-car collision, on University Avenue near High Street. The car-tree problem remains. In the 1960s, after longtime city Arborist George Hood made Palo Alto famous as an urban forest, there was a joke that if a car hit one of the large magnolia trees along University Avenue that they'd dispatch an ambulance for the driver and a tree crew for the tree --
and the tree crew would get there first! The city even had its own tree nursery, at the rear of Eleanor Pardee Park at Center Drive and Channing Avenue. Hood was known for his care of El Palo Alto, the city's "living landmark" redwood tree. He had an annual "physical exam" of the tree done by a climber from McClenahan Tree Service, and installed a misting system in a "fool the redwood" plan to make it feel it was in a fog-visited coastal canyon. Hood also one day noticed a vividly colored liquidambar tree and, with the help of legendary arborist Barrie Coate of the Saratoga Horticultural Foundation (which propagated native-California trees and plants) had the tree reproduced and made available as a street tree as the now wellknown "Palo Alto variety" of liquidambar. Coate later said no city was planting "fall-color" trees as street trees, but that the practice spread rapidly after Palo Alto led the way, and branched out, so to speak, to other colorful trees. But the biggest "save the trees" battle occurred in the 1990s, a decade when developers and home buyers began buying up homes, clearing the lot and building the early "McMansions." Palo Alto up to then had no tree-preservation or "heritage tree" ordinance, lagging behind other cities by a couple of decades, because of what Dockter describes as a remarkable community dedication to and respect for its trees. Former Weekly Editor Jay Thorwaldson can be emailed at jthorwaldson@paweekly.com and jaythor@well.com.
Streetwise
What do you do on Veterans Day?
Asked on California Avenue, Palo Alto. Interviews and photographs by Yichuan Cao.
Chris Bertagnole
Photographer Rose Street, Berkeley "I used to join events honoring veterans at school but now I just get in the car to work on Veterans Day."
Alice Cox
Stay-at-home Mom Raquel Court, Los Altos "My kids are off on Veterans Day. I would usually stay with them."
Eric Cox
Engineer Raquel Court, Los Altos "I spend the time watching war documentaries with the kids."
Richard Duncan
Retired Homestead Road, Santa Clara "I take my kids to a veterans cemetery and lay some flowers. Not to anyone in particular, we just want to do that."
Bill Vujevich
Artist Santana Row, San Jose "I work on the day but it seems like to me we are doing too little for the veterans. I hope to contribute more, and hope we all remember what they did for us every day."
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Cover Story
A COLD WARRIOR
WILLIAM J. PERRY, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, STRIVES FOR WORLDWIDE NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT
by Christian Pease
Courtesy of William and Lee Perry
he walls of William J. Perry's Stanford University offices in Encina Hall are covered with memorabilia. Plaques and banners presented to him by every branch of the United States Armed Forces are mingled with proclamations and images from around the world. But among these many keepsakes, one has particular significance to the former U.S. secretary of defense. Clustered in a simple frame are a handful of photographs taken during four trips Perry made between March 1994 and June 1996 to Pervomaysk in southern Ukraine. At the site of Silo 110, once commanded by the Strategic Rocket Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, an SS-19 intercontinental ballistic missile used to be housed, crowned with six nuclear warheads targeted at the United States. On Jan. 5, 1996, Perry, together with Russian Defense Minister Pavel Grachev and Ukrainian Defense Minister Valeriy Shmarov, simultaneously detonated a charge that blew up Silo 110, collapsing it on itself into the earth below. In summers now, sunflowers bloom, marking the spot. It was halfway around the world from Pervomaysk at the Pentagon, on Feb. 4, 1994, that Perry had taken the oath of office and became the United States' 19th secretary of defense, appointed by President William J. Clinton. A mathematician and scientist, high technology executive, entrepreneur, venture capitalist and academic, Perry was above all else a Cold Warrior. By the time he became secretary the Cold War had ended, but its most
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Courtesy of William and Lee Perry
At top: William Perry (left) stands conversing in front of Silo 110 in Pervomaysk, Ukraine, in 1995, with the Russian Federation's minister of defense, General of the Army Pavel Grachev (center), and Ukraine Minister of Defense Valeriy Shmarov (right). The silo, which housed an intercontinental missile pointed at the United States, would later be dismantled with funds provided by the U.S. Department of Defense. Above: Perry enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1946 at the age of 18 and served in Japan.
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Cover Story
Perry (far right) listens as former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (center) comments at a Stanford University symposium, along with former Secretary of State George Shultz (second from left) and former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn (second from right). The quartet sometimes refer to themselves as the nuclear-disarmament "Gang of Four."
Rod Searcey Courtesy of William and Lee Perry
Courtesy of William and Lee Perry
deadly legacy lived on. Over the next three years, Perry worked tirelessly to reduce and eliminate as many as possible of the thousands of nuclear weapons the U.S. and the former Soviet Union had stockpiled. And when he left office in 1997, Perry said he believed the United States and rest of the world were moving in the right direction -- towards nuclear disarmament. Since then, he has become less sure, worried by a broadly emerging proliferation of nuclear weapons and growing access to the ingredients for making them. The Cold War may be 20
years in the past, but Perry, who turned 84 in October, is nonetheless engaged in its aftermath: the danger still remaining in massive U.S. and Russian nuclear stockpiles and the clamor by countries and rogue military groups to make more of them. Pervomaysk turned out to be a guidepost on a long journey Perry continues to travel. He is now a Stanford professor with joint appointments at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and the School of Engineering, as well as being a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. The mission is
more personal now, maybe even bigger: to facilitate worldwide nuclear disarmament. It is a path he has shared most recently with three well-known partners: former secretaries of state George Shultz and Henry Kissinger and former U.S. Senator and national security expert Sam Nunn.
At left: Perry (center) is flanked by then-Secretary of State Warren Minor Christopher (left) and U.S. Army General John Malchase David Shalikashvili, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff (right). Perry, a strong believer in coordinated diplomatic and military policies between the U.S. military and its foreign counterparts, traveled extensively during his tenure as secretary of defense. Above: Perry appears in a mid-1960s Electromagnetic Systems Labs (ESL) brochure taken at the firm's Fabian Way headquarters in south Palo Alto. Perry co-founded and was chief executive officer of ESL until 1977.
A
student prodigy, Perry left high school early to study at Carnegie Tech, where he completed three semesters before enlisting in the Army
(continued on next page)
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Cover Story
Fueling nuclear power
Demand for energy sparks idea of international fuel bank
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Courtesy of William and Lee Perry
Above and below: William Perry (left), Ukraine Minister of Defense Valeriy Shmarov (center), and the Russian Federation minister of defense, General of the Army Pavel Grachev (right) celebrate the destruction of Silo 110 at Pervomaysk, Ukraine, in 1996. The three of them would later plant sunflowers on the spot where the silo had once been.
he increasing demand for power by countries with robust economic growth -- such as India, China and Brazil -- also raises the specter of danger in William Perry's mind. Nations in general are beginning to harbor concerns about their energy security and, in some cases, the adverse effects of carbon-based sources such as coal and petroleum on climate change. Countries including the United States are moving forward with aggressive plans to expand their reliance on nuclear plants to meet demand. There is much talk of a renaissance in the nuclear-power industry. For Perry, power reactors themselves are not the issue; it is their fuel and the means to produce it that focuses his attention. "The danger then is that the countries use their commercial reactor program as a steppingstone to get to their nuclear-weapons program. We saw that happen -- precisely happen -- in North Korea, and we think we see it happening in Iran today," he said. A way to address this problem is already on the international table for consideration: a plan for a common "fuel bank" run and supervised by the International Atomic Energy Agency. From it, countries new to nuclear-power generation could buy their fuel and then return and exchange it once they have exhausted it producing electricity. According to Perry, this idea "has been proposed by many people and particularly by the NTI, the Nuclear Threat Initiative," a non-governmental agency chaired by Nunn. Warren Buffet has given $50 million to the U.N. to establish the fuel bank. "So there have been serious and substantial efforts made in this regard," Perry said. The trouble is in getting sovereign nations who want nuclear power to agree to use the bank. In Perry's view, there is no practical justification for any country to enter the business of making its own fuel. "It is not economical, and they do it either for one or two reasons: either because they want to use this capacity to make fuel as an entry into a nuclear-weapons program, or they do it simply for national prestige -- some mistaken view of what national prestige is all about. But there is no commercial reason for doing it," he said. Perry believes if a broadly supported international fuel bank can be established, then even a full-blown resurgence in civilian nuclear-power generation would pose far less risk than it might otherwise, at least when it comes to the proliferation of nuclear weapons. "The problem lies in countries insisting on making their own fuel," he said. --Christian Pease a technology consultancy and the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford. "At the time I was not in the government," Perry recalled. "I worked in what they call `track two' -- unofficial." Then the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, and with it, newly independent Ukraine became the third largest nuclear power in the world, its arsenal larger than that of Britain, France and China combined. "I went with Senator Nunn and Senator (Richard) Lugar on a trip to Russia and Ukraine, where we explored with the Russians and the Ukrainians what they were doing to try and contain their nuclear weapons," he said. Both countries were gripped by intense political, economic and social turbulence -- the stability of everything, including their substantial military establishments, was in question. Soldiers were not being paid; discipline was breaking down, the chain of command uncertain. "It seemed to us to be a very dangerous situation. It was not the kind of danger of the Cold War; it was different," Perry said. The biggest concern was that one or both governments "would lose control of their nuclear weapons and that they would fall into the hands of a Mafioso or a terror group." Perry helped the two senators create and advocate for what became known as the "Nunn-Lugar" program. The resulting bipartisan leg-
William previous page) J. Perry (continued from
at 18. It was just after World War II, and by his 19th birthday he was serving in occupied Japan, entering adulthood at the start of the nuclear age. In that titanic struggle and ultimate standoff between reigning superpowers, Perry would become a committed Cold Warrior. At 21, Perry found himself at Stanford, graduating three years later with undergraduate and graduate degrees in mathematics and a second lieutenant's commission the Army reserves. After three years on active duty, Perry began his career in private industry. It would be two decades before he entered civilian government service, thereafter alternating between it, academia and consulting. Perry, a Pennsylvania native, has spent much of his adult life in Palo Alto, where together with his wife, Lee, he raised a family. He worked as research director at GTE Electronic Defense Labs in Mountain
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View and later completed his doctorate, also in mathematics, at Pennsylvania State University. He then co-founded and became president of ESL, a high-technology defense firm initially headquartered on Fabian Way, in south Palo Alto. Perry's first intense encounter with the probabilities of nuclear war occurred while he was still at GTE. "I was consulting occasionally with the Defense Department and the CIA on technical issues relating (to) Soviet missiles," he recalled recently. "I got a call from a former Stanford classmate, who at the time was deputy director of the CIA for science and technology, asking me to come back and consult on a problem." Perry agreed, telling his friend he would rearrange his schedule and travel to the nation's capital the following week. But that was not good enough; the voice on the other end of the line insisted Perry come immediately, which he did, taking a redeye flight that night to Washington, D.C. "First thing in the morning, he
showed me pictures of Soviet missiles deploying in Cuba," Perry said. It was October 1962. The Cuban Missile Crisis had begun, but the public still knew nothing of it. Perry was stunned by what he saw. He would spend the next two weeks analyzing intelligence day and night. "I believed we were going to go to a nuclear war, and I figured every day I was living my last day on earth. So to me, nuclear war was not an abstract issue. It was very, very concrete," he said. That crisis lasted 13 days -- a thermonuclear exchange between USSR and the United States averted by only the narrowest of margins. Fifteen years later, Perry moved to the capital at the behest of President Jimmy Carter's administration. Soft spoken, unassuming and widely regarded as a brilliant technologist and gifted administrator, Perry entered government service as undersecretary of defense for research and engineering -- essentially, chief technology officer for the Department of Defense.
It was at this time that a second seminal event occurred that helped solidify his commitment to nuclear disarmament. Another call came, this one from an Air Force general at 0300 hours -- 3 a.m. Perry was told the United States appeared to be under attack. Warning systems were lit up, signaling that hundreds of Soviet missiles were only minutes away from raining warheads down on America. "That was one of three false alarms I know about. I don't know how many occurred in the Soviet Union," he said. "Any one of those might have turned into nuclear war." The precarious balance of peace and nuclear terror between Cold War superpowers was deeply impressed upon him. "I came to believe we were avoiding nuclear war as much by good luck as by good management. And the fate of the world depending on just good luck seemed very unreasonable to me. I had a mounting apprehension that we would go to nuclear war by miscalculation, or by accident, and that these nuclear weapons which were designed for our security were really a danger -- not just to our security, but really to the existence of civilization." Following the 1980 election of President Ronald Reagan, Perry returned to the Bay Area, where he joined investment firm Hambrecht & Quist as an executive vice-president. He later split his time between
Courtesy of William and Lee Perry
Cover Story
islation, signed into law in 1991 by President George H. W. Bush, authorized the Department of Defense to assist the Russians and Ukrainians to reassert control of their nuclear weapons. Under terms of an agreement, Ukraine gave up its arsenal. The world had one fewer nuclear-weapons state. When Perry returned to the Pentagon in 1993, first as deputy secretary and shortly thereafter as secretary, he found that "the program I helped write I now had the opportunity to help implement. And as secretary of defense, I would say my top priority was working to reduce the deadly nuclear legacy of the Cold War." Perry traveled extensively as secretary of defense, meeting with inand Harriet Drell. Drell, an emeritus professor of theoretical physics at Stanford and arms-control expert, was for many years deputy director a Stanford's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. "George mentioned that we were approaching the 20th anniversary of the Reykjavik Summit," Perry said. It was at that 1986 meeting in Iceland that Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, the last head of state for the Soviet Union, seriously discussed the idea of total nuclear disarmament. "They were both seeing the end of the Cold War coming to an end. They were both (asking), `Why do we need nuclear weapons anymore?' But they were not able to implement that." As the six friends discussed what had happened at Reykjavik and what had not, they considered formally revisiting what Reagan and Gorbachev had envisioned. Later Perry, Shultz and Drell invited many of those who had been at the summit to meet again at a workshop on the Stanford campus. Nunn participated as well. Out of that workshop Perry, Shultz, Drell and Nunn agreed to write an OpEd piece for the Wall Street Journal that was eventually published Jan. 4, 2007, "A World Free of Nuclear Weapons." "But there were three Democrats and one Republican," recalled Perry, who was raised a Republican but joined the Democratic Party during his Army service. "And George very wisely observed that he wanted this to be a bipartisan or a non-partisan activity, and that we ought have it even. So Sid Drell stepped off to the side in favor of Henry Kissinger." "We have tried from that time forward to keep this totally out of partisan politics. And all you have to do is follow what is happening in politics today to understand within partisan politics it is very hard to move forward." It was the start of a close collaboration that would gain international attention. The quartet has since written two additional pieces for the Journal. In the January 2007 column, the four made their case for abolishing the most powerful weapons of mass destruction ever devised -- and the bulwark of America's strategy of deterrence and national policy since the early 1950s. "The end of the Cold War made the doctrine of mutual Soviet-American deterrence obsolete. Deterrence continues to be a relevant consideration for many states with regard to threats from other states. But reliance on nuclear weapons for this purpose is becoming increasingly hazardous and decreasingly effective," they wrote. Since the detonation of atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the end of World War II, there have been numerous calls for the elimination of nuclear weapons, several by sitting presidents -- including Eisenhower, Kennedy, Reagan and more recently President Barack Obama. Yet the overall reaction from media commentators and others to "A World Free of Nuclear Weapons"
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`I believed we were going to go to a nuclear war, and I figured every day I was living my last day on earth. So to me, nuclear war was not an abstract issue. It was very, very concrete.'
-- WILLIAM J. PERRY, REFERRING TO THE 1962 CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS
ternational leaders and military and civilian officials, discussing and searching for ways to better control existing nuclear weapons, stop their proliferation and reduce their numbers. During his tenure more than 8,000 nuclear weapons were dismantled by the United States, Russia and the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union. This represented between 15 to 20 percent of the overall total. He also worked hard to win the critical backing of the U.S. military establishment that enabled Clinton to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). In Perry's eyes, it's an agreement essential to nuclear disarmament and remains to this day un-ratified by the United States Senate -- a fact he calls "a disaster." "When I left office in 1997 I really thought we were well on our way to curtailing this deadly nuclear legacy. But since then things have first stalled and then turned around. So by 2006 I was concerned that we were drifting again towards the danger of nuclear war -- moving in the wrong direction." t was a dinner among old friends in 2005 that brought Perry's apprehensions about nuclear proliferation again to the fore. Perry and his wife dined at the Rickeys Hyatt in Palo Alto with Shultz and Sidney Drell and their wives, Charlotte Mailliard Shultz
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was different, evoking a broader response with a tinge of possibility. "The first difference was the Cold War had ended. It was over," Perry said. During the Cold War, advocating nuclear disarmament "did not get serious attention." "Second, and I think this is an important point, was that the four names on that OpEd were all people who had participated in the development of the weapons themselves or in the policies controlling those weapons," he said. "And so it cast a different light on the recommendation. "It was hard for the people opposed us to point to the four of us and say, `They don't know what they are talking about,' or `They are just theoretical people.' All of us had dealt with the practical issues of national security. So that, I think, made a difference." But there are still many credible doubters, even among those with whom Perry is professionally and personally close. "There are serious people who have listened to these arguments and have rejected them, and I understand that," he acknowledged. But in Perry's view, they do not "adequately face what I think is a very real prospect that we are drifting towards the use of nuclear weapons or even a nuclear war. It seems to me that prospect is getting more likely each year in the last few decades. "So, it's not just the matter of a terrorist getting a nuclear bomb, although that's probably (the) No. 1 worry, but also the possibility of a nuclear war starting. The probability of that happening is not fully recognized or understood by most people. And the horror of such a result is not fully understood by most people. Part of our mission is to try to make people face those two realities."
Courtesy of William and Lee Perry
Reserve officer Second Lieutenant William Perry at Fort Lewis, Wash., in the early 1950s, not long after earning his commission while attending Stanford. This is not to say Perry believes the United States can simply do away with its nuclear arsenal. He is not a unilateralist; he is an activist who believes caution does not equate to inaction or that rigid adherence to a strategy is sensible in the future because it worked in the past. It was Perry who chaired the 2009 Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States. Its final report opened with this statement: "U.S. nuclear strategy begins with the central dilemma that nuclear weapons are both the greatest potential threat to our way of life and important guarantors of U.S. security." That dilemma will face the world for at least another decade, Perry
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Cover Story
The most dangerous border
Perry cites risks of nuclear weapons in India and Pakistan
n terms of threat from nuclear arms outside of the U.S. and Russia, the long border shared by India and Pakistan might well be the most dangerous boundary on the planet. Theirs is a history troubled by sectarian violence, war and disputed territory. Both countries developed nuclear weapons in secret and both refuse to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty. "India and Pakistan probably have more than 100 nuclear weapons each, and they continue to build nuclear weapons," former Secretary of Defense William Perry said. "I've discussed this with leaders in both those nations; both believe they have good standards" for security and professionalism regarding the command and control of their weapons. "We have no way of being really confident of that. And I am particularly concerned about Pakistan and not because the government does not want to maintain high standards, but because some important areas of the Pakistani countryside really are not under government control," including those close to nuclear-weapons storage sites. "I think there is a greater danger of weapons being lost or stolen under circumstances like that." Perry is even more worried their owners will use those weapons. India and Pakistan have had three wars in a still unresolved territorial dispute over the region of Kashmir. If a conflict were to break out again, "It would now be a war between two nuclear powers, and the danger of that war escalating into a nuclear war I think would be reasonably high." And a nuclear exchange involving countries with large military forces such as these "is a catastrophe of a level most people's mind cannot fully encompass," he added. --Christian Pease to be ever increasing levels of partisanship in the areas of national security and foreign affairs that "stem from the general political climate in the United States today that has nothing to do with this issue that we are talking about." So great is the partisanship, that "it is hard to imagine even in the most important national security issues where the politics stops at the water's edge," he said. n March of this year Perry, Shultz, Kissinger and Nunn authored their third opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal. Near the end of it appears a declarative sentence: "A world without nuclear weapons will not simply be today's world minus nuclear weapons." Perry explained recently: "The world we are looking to has to have some international way of dealing with conflict, that focuses on preventing the conflict in the first place, dealing with the causes of conflict. We are very far from that world today." Wars will continue, and as long as they do, there are those who will strive to get hold of the most powerful weapons attainable to them, including nuclear weapons. "The world we live in today would be a dangerous world even without nuclear weapons. And without nuclear weapons, there would be a huge impetus to rebuild them. So we have to deal with those problems, too," Perry said. It is evident the neither Perry, nor Kissinger, Nunn or Shultz, ever believed their call for the denuclearization of man's weaponry would or could yield easy results, no matter how much attention and visibility it may enjoy. Their individual and collective experiences preclude such comforts. But in the absence of credible, on-going efforts to reverse the spread of nuclear armaments, they are certain the threat will only grow. "We have to inform people," Perry said. "The huge task before us today is an education task." To facilitate this learning process and make it more accessible, the four of them appeared together in the feature-length documentary film, "Nuclear Tipping Point," released in January 2010. "Nuclear Tipping Point" is narrated by actor Michael Douglas and introduced by former secretary of state and retired Army general Colin Powell. Mikhail Gorbachev, the last general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, also appears in the film. "Invite a dozen friends to your house, and play it for them and discuss it," Perry said. "And if we have neighborhood groups all over Palo Alto and all over California and all over the United States meeting and discussing these issues, then that provides the body of knowledge which will lead our politicians to care about the problem and take actions about the problem. "That will only deal with the problem in the United States. But in this problem, the leadership must come from the United States. If we do not lead on this problem nothing will happen," he said. Christian Pease is a photographer, writer and co-founder of Light at 11B Studios. He can be reached at christian@light11b. com
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Courtesy of William and Lee Perry
On his first visit to Pervomaysk, Ukraine, in March 1994, Perry (fourth from the left) and then-minister of defense for the two-year-old nation, Vitaly Radetsky (next to Perry, fifth from the left), look down through an open silo door at an intercontinental ballistic missile previously armed with 10 nuclear warheads targeted at the United States. said, but weight should be put on happening." "Those are great standards, and understanding the threat and trying Perry believes leadership in de- now we need to get them applied to to eliminate it, while still recog- nuclearization needs to begin with much more substantial reductions nizing nuclear arms as part of the those who own the most -- the U.S. -- absolute reductions," including country's security strategy. and Russia. tactical and strategic weapons, opTo him the central question is "To try and get other nations in erational or not. "how you deal with deterrence as the world, particularly the nuclear So for Perry, after New START, you start to bring down the nuclear powers, to participate in this -- all "We have a long way to go, but it weapons; how you maintain de- of them are holding back saying, was a useful first step." terrence and why; and how you `What are the United States and New START not withstanding, could approach a world in which Russia doing?' So the United Sates however, Perry said the ratification deterrence is achieved not through and Russian must lead in this move of another treaty -- the 1996 Comnuclear weapons but through other for denuclearization," he said. prehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) means." The New START treaty, signed -- remains a key test of U.S. leaderby Obama and Russian President ship. The treaty was passed by the here are currently nine de- Dmitri Medvedev and narrowly United Nations General Assembly clared or assumed nuclear- ratified by the U.S. Senate in De- and signed by Clinton in 1996 but weapons states. Five of them, cember 2010, "was a small but im- rejected by the U.S. Senate. including the U.S., Russia, the Unit- portant step in that direction. I say The Test Ban Treaty prohibits ed Kingdom, France and China, are "any nuclear weapon test explosion signatories to the 1970 Nuclear Noor any other nuclear explosion," and Proliferation Treaty. Three others its ratification is one of eight "urrefuse to sign: India, Pakistan and gent steps" towards nuclear disarNorth Korea. One -- Israel -- is mament outlined in "A World Free "opaque" and makes no admission of Nuclear Weapons." of such weapons. Iran is widely President George W. Bush opsuspected of developing them but posed the treaty and it languished denies it. during his two terms in office. Then And then there are non-state acin his 2008 campaign Obama stattors -- terrorist organizations with ed: "As president, I will reach out to no borders to defend or national the Senate to secure the ratification threat to deter. The danger is that of the CTBT at the earliest practione of them will somehow find a cal date." way to purchase or steal either a `small' because it did not involve As of today Obama has not done nuclear weapon or the fissile ma- very substantial reductions. And so. Perry thinks this results directly terials needed to fabricate one, and even the reductions it made were from "the intense struggle over the then use it in an attack, Perry said. addressed only to operational nu- New START treaty, which barely "No terror group that I know of, clear weapons and only to strategic passed for ratification. And the New no matter how well-funded and how nuclear weapons." START Treaty, in my judgment, well-organized, has the capacity Russia and the U.S. have thou- was non-controversial." themselves to make fissile mate- sands of strategic weapons that are From the viewpoint of Perry and rial. It's a huge industrial undertak- not operational. Each country, but his three colleagues: "If it is not ing, and it's quite visible ordinarily especially Russia, has many thou- brought up -- if the United States when it's undertaken," Perry said. sand more that are considered "tac- does not ratify it, then I think it will "So I do not see a danger of a terror tical." The latter are much smaller, really bring an end to the moves we group themselves making a nuclear harder to track, and therefore easier have taken to try and get nuclear bomb from scratch." to steal and use. New START ex- weapons under greater control. However, "every time a new state cludes non-operational and tactical "The failure to ratify it leaves naenters the nuclear club, becomes nuclear weapons. tions such as India and China open capable of making fissile material, "So it is a small step. Why I call it to testing again, which I believe it simply further increases the vul- an important step was because it got would not only be bad for the world nerability that a terror group will be the United States and Russia talking as a whole but would be a setback able to get fissile material. There- again seriously about reduction in for U.S. security as well. So I can fore, if we can control the bombs nuclear weapons," he said. see not only nonproliferation reathat I think today are adequately New START established a stan- sons for the U.S. ratifying the treaty. controlled, and we can control the dard inspection regime and, in ef- I can also see very substantial benfissile material, which I do not be- fect, has both countries accepting efits to U.S. security by going ahead lieve today we are adequately con- public accountability for their nu- and ratifying this treaty." trolling, then we can keep that from clear weapons. He is concerned by what appears
T
`We have to inform people. The huge task before us today is an education task.'
I
WATCH IT ONLINE
www.PaloAltoOnline.com
An extended interview with former Secretary of Defense William Perry has been posted on Palo Alto Online.
About the cover:
William J. Perry, former secretary of defense, at Stanford University. Photo by Christian Pease and Joseph Garappolo/Light at 11B.
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Arts & Entertainment
A weekly guide to music, theater, art, movies and more, edited by Rebecca Wallace
by Rebecca Wallace
he artists are adorned all over: a star under the eye, a butterfly on a knee, a wide-eyed devil on an upper arm. Now they also have tattoos in a more unusual place: an art gallery. The vibrant, energetic prints now on display at Smith Andersen Editions in Palo Alto have all been inspired or shaped by tattoos. Stanford art professor Enrique Chagoya, for one, is exhibiting a print edition called "My Tattoos," with skulls and flames. Jen Lee, who creates her art on skin at Tattoo City in San Francisco, is showing "True Love," in which two hands clasp, one with a delicate lace cuff at the wrist. "I love ornamentation of any kind," Smith Andersen owner Paula Kirkeby said at the show's opening reception last week. "Body ornamentation just freaks me out. I love it." For this exhibition, titled "Taste of Tattoo," Kirkeby and gallery director Melissa Behravesh brought together 10
T
artists. There are five known for their tattoo art -- Lee, Ross K. Jones, Mary Joy, Jeff Rassier and Kahlil Rintye -- and five who are known for printmaking or other art forms: Chagoya, George Herms, Kathryn Kain, Kara Maria and Richard Shaw. The artists created their prints at Smith Andersen, which is also a small fine-arts press. For some, the project meant a chance to use new materials and work with a master printer for the first time. For others, it was an interesting hybrid reminder of their backgrounds. Some of the tattoo artists studied printmaking in art school, while many of the printmakers have long been intrigued by tattoos. Shaw, who is known for his trompe l'oeil ceramic sculpture, got his first tattoo with tattoo artist Don Ed Hardy. His untitled prints in the Palo Alto exhibition utilize gentle humor: A blonde woman is getting a flock of birds tattooed on her back when they suddenly all fly away.
(continued on page 23)
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Arts & Entertainment
Tattoo art
(continued from page 22)
For Rassier, who works at Blackheart Tattoo in San Francisco and has also worked on paper for decades, using the Smith Andersen studio was a new revelation. "Paula is such a glowing personality. She was an inspiration," he said in an email. "I just sold a painting and I told myself with that money I was going to buy a press. If no major earthquakes crush my house before I get a chance, that's my plan." In Rassier's print edition, "You Krampus My Style," a long tail unfurls from a devilish face like a knife, piercing a heart and dripping blood. Like most of the prints in the show, Rassier's works are labeled "E.V." (editions vari�es). This means that there's a central design that stays the same (here, the devil face) each time the print goes through the press. But the artist may alter other facets of the piece, including color and placement. Here, the face is a different hue in each print, and there are different touches of color: red handprints in one, a tire-track pattern across the horned face in another. "Working on paper in all forms is really relaxing," Rassier said. "For me it's probably the only real food that feeds my soul. I love tattooing but there is always another mind
giving input, which can be good or pure hell. And if you make a mistake on paper you can chuck it in the bin. Hard to do with people." Kirkeby said she's thrilled that Rassier enjoyed working on her press so much. "It's so gratifying. It's the best feeling ever." The tattoo exhibition, while unusual at a gallery, has been an idea in the back of Kirkeby's mind for a long time. She had been interested in tattoos and other graphic arts since childhood, and then a few years ago the late Stanford printmaker and painter Nathan Oliveira introduced her to the work of artist Kenjilo Nanao, a student of his. Nanao's 1969 print "The Great Tattoo" hangs in an office at Smith Andersen, depicting a large snake tattoo stretching across several people, from back to back. Kirkey started talking to "everybody who had tattoos," and one artist led to another by word of mouth until she had chosen 10, she said. The "Taste of Tattoo" exhibition opened at Smith Andersen on Nov. 3, with a catalog featuring essays by Don Ed Hardy and Hilarie Faberman, curator of modern and contemporary art at Stanford's Cantor Arts Center. "As is characteristic of the atmosphere at the press, positive interactions among the artists and printers facilitated a lively dialogue that was conducive to experimentation," Fab-
erman wrote in her essay. "During its yearlong production, the Tattoo Project had the aura of a family reunion." Chagoya, Herms, Shaw and others had created prints at Smith Andersen before, she added, while Kain is the master printer there. Several of the tattoo artists are coworkers, and many of the artists are friends. A later exhibit, "Indelibly Yours: Smith Andersen Editions and the Tattoo Project," is scheduled to travel, with destinations including the de Saisset Museum at Santa Clara University. For the moment, the tattoo art will remain at Smith Andersen through Jan. 25. It's already attracting artists and art buffs; people at the opening reception included Stanford painter Sukey Bryan and Palo Alto resident Charles Clark, who volunteers at the Cantor Arts Center, collects art and attends many local exhibitions. "This," he said with a grin, "is a wild one."
What: "Taste of Tattoo," an exhibition of prints by printmakers and tattoo artists Where: Smith Andersen Editions, 440 Pepper Ave., Palo Alto When: Through Jan. 25. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Cost: Free Info: Go to smithandersen.com or call 650-327-7762.
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PALO ALTO GRAND PRIX
Arts & Entertainment
ROAD RACE SERIES
A grim, poignant `Parade'
Palo Alto Players take on a dark period of U.S. history
THEATER REVIEW
RUN, HAVE FUN & JOIN US FOR THE 2011 SEASON
by Karla Kane
"P
MARCH 12
MAY 8
OCTOBER 29
SEPTEMBER 9
NOVEMBER 13
For more information go to: www.paloaltogp.org
arade" is not for the faint of heart. Lynch mobs, rape, murder, child labor, anti-Semitism and racism are among the topics tackled by the musical, currently being performed by Palo Alto Players. The show is based on the case of Leo Frank (which led to the creation of the Anti-Defamation League), and the somber story makes for an unusual musical-theater experience. It's 1913 in Georgia, and Leo Frank (William Giammona), a Jewish New Yorker unhappily transplanted from Brooklyn to the Deep South, works as the supervisor of a local pencil factory. He has a loving wife -- the also-Jewish but native Southern belle Lucille (Alicia Teeter) -- but their relationship is tenuous, thanks to his misery at being a cultural fish out of water and her frustration about the coldness with which he treats her. Though a half a century has passed since the Confederacy lost the Civil War, the locals' sense of indignation and mourning for the South's glory days still loom large, and are celebrated annually on Confederate Memorial Day, with the titular parade as a key part of the festivities. Frank bemoans the holiday as representative of all that's wrong with his adopted homeland, and goes to work instead. It is during said parade that young Mary Phagan (Nicolette Norgaard), a 13-year-old white girl employed as a low-wage factory worker, collects her paycheck from Frank and is seen alive for the last time. When her assaulted corpse is discovered at the factory the following morning, Frank, with his Yankee ways and hostile attitude, becomes a prime suspect. Frank is prosecuted with zeal by a district attorney (Cameron Weston) eager to make his political mark. (The D.A. decides that the conviction of a black man, another suspect, would not earn him the necessary prestige, as such convictions are apparently a dime a dozen.) The trial is a farce, with bribed, corrupt witnesses lying up a storm, and an outraged community seething with rage and pain over the murder, desperate to see vengeance done at any cost. An opportunistic yellow journalist (Chris Janssen) spins the story gleefully while Lucille Frank takes up her husband's plight and eventually convinces the governor to review his case. As Frank realizes how much she's done for him, the relationship blossoms anew, amongst the trying circumstances. Though things begin to look up for the Franks, anyone familiar with the history of the story knows a grim ending is in store when some community members decide to take justice into their own hands. Clearly "Parade" is not a feel-good
Joyce Goldschmid
William Giammona plays Leo Frank in Palo Alto Players' production of "Parade."
musical, but its story is historically important and compelling. The book was written by Alfred Uhry -- who tackled the lighter side of JewishSouthern relations in the touching comedy "The Last Night of Ballyhoo" -- with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. "Parade" drags at times and would be equally effective, and more streamlined, as a straight play. It would benefit from at least some editing down of a few superfluous musical numbers. On the other hand, the score, which won a 1999 Tony Award, is hauntingly beautiful at times, and creates atmosphere especially in its sparest moments. A sinister bass line here, an ominous drum roll there underscore the tragedy perfectly. There is also a nice mixture of period- and location-appropriate ragtime and blues-tinged songs throughout. Performances are mostly strong all around, with a plethora of excellent singers in the cast. In addition to the leads, Brian Palac is a captivating standout as the villainous factory janitor Jim Conley, who earned the biggest cheers of the bunch at curtain call. Many of the cast members play multiple roles with aplomb, and I es-
pecially enjoyed the harmony vocals during ensemble numbers, in particular those of three young women portraying Phagan's workmates and friends, singing their incriminating testimony. Unfortunately, at a recent performance the orchestra often drowned out the singers, making the lyrics unintelligible. The set and scenery are bare bones, consisting often of just a platform and chairs, but the period costumes, by Mary Cravens, are a delight. You won't leave a performance of "Parade" tapping your toes or wildly cheering (especially after the ambiguous, defiant closing number), but the tragic story and well-done production will stick with you for some time after.
What: The Palo Alto Players present the musical "Parade" Where: Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto When: Through Nov. 20, Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Cost: Tickets are $32, with discounts available for students, seniors and groups of 12 or more. Info: Go to paplayers.org or call 650329-0891.
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Arts & Entertainment
Worth a Look
Art
Barbara O'Reilly
sia. Needless to say, it was a rather politicized faceoff, referred to by many as the "Blood in the Water" match. The film is narrated by Olympic swimmer Mark Spitz, and its executive producers include Quentin
Tarantino and Lucy Liu. It will be shown at 7 p.m. Nov. 12 at Kepler's, 1010 El Camino Real. Tickets are $12 in advance and $16 at the door. Go to keplers.com or call 650-3244321.
Spanish composer Ferrer Ferran. Germaine Tailleferre's S�r�nade en la Mineur for sax quartet and piano, and Mozart's Grande Sestetto Concertante for string sextet round out the evening. The performance features Palo Alto Philharmonic orchestra musicians and their friends. It begins at 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12, at the First Baptist Church, 305 N. California Ave., Palo Alto. Tickets are $20 general, $17 for seniors and $10 for students. Go to paphil.org.
IF IT'S NOT IN THIS VAULT, IT'S NOT SAFE.
`The Legend of Rex Slinkard'
He was a rancher-turned-painter who became an influential California modernist and teacher. But Rex Slinkard didn't have many decades to make his mark on the art world: Born in 1887, he died in the 1918 influenza epidemic while serving in the military. Now Slinkard's work is lighting up a gallery at Stanford's Cantor Arts Center. A new exhibition called "The Legend of Rex Slinkard" features 60-some works by the late artist: oil paintings, charcoal drawings and sketches in pen and watercolor paint. Portraits and nature scenes are among them. The museum has a large collection of art by Slinkard thanks to a 1955 bequest by Florence A. Williams, who was the sister of the artist's fianc�e, said Cantor curator of education Patience Young in a press release. In addition, Geneva Gano, who has taught at Stanford, did research into Slinkard's painting and teaching career in Los Angeles. "Until Geneva's research this past decade, little has been known about the artist and his work in our collection," Young said. The museum hosts the exhibition through Feb. 26 on the Stanford campus, off Palm Drive at Museum Way. Admission is free, and the Cantor is open Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursdays until 8 p.m. Go to museum.stanford.edu or call 650-7234177.
LOS ALTOS VAULT & SAFE DEPOSIT CO.
A private depository Safe deposit boxes of all sizes Strict and total confidentiality Secured and ample parking Visit our facilities and judge for yourself. Data bank for important and confidential records.
A visitor takes the waters inside artist Kathleen Egan's installation "Barreled by Plastic" at the Los Altos History Museum.
Exhibits Music
`Shaped by Water'
How has humans' use of water impacted the Santa Clara Valley, and what does the future look like, water-wise? An exhibit of art, artifacts, photos, maps and stories is currently delving into these questions at the Los Altos History Museum. "Shaped by Water: Past, Present & Future" starts with a look back at the indigenous tribal people of the valley, telling their stories and depicting the ways they used creeks and the Bay, and moved from place to place during wet and dry seasons. Moving forward in time, models and other installations look at the rock dams and irrigation ditches that arrived with Spanish missionaries, the artesian wells of Mexican ranchos, and the more recent dambuilding. Historic film footage gives visitors a look at the 1937 Santa Clara Valley flood. Present-day topics include the ways we look at water as a threatened resource. One display depicts how much water residents use every day; other exhibit sections deals with groundwater pollution, wastewater treatment and other subjects. And then there's the water-related artwork, including San Francisco artist-surfer Kathleen Egan's giant "Barreled by Plastic," an installation constructed from a surfboard and recycled plastic bottles. "Our main goal for `Shaped by Water' is to educate the community about the past, present and future of water while inspiring appreciation and action for this precious resource," said Linda Gass, the exhibit chair and a Los Altos textile artist and painter. The exhibit runs through April 22 at 51 S. San Antonio Road in Los Altos. Admission is free, and opening hours are Thursday through Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. Go to losaltoshistory.org or call 650-9489427.
SAFE FROM STATE & FEDERAL GOVERNMENT INTRUSION
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR HACKERS TO PENETRATE OUR COMPUTER SYSTEM. REASON -- WE HAVE NO COMPUTERS. WE DO BUSINESS THE OLD FASHIONED WAY.
`Gershwin and Friends'
George Gershwin's got rhythm -- and a running commentary. In Sunday's event "Gershwin and Friends," pianist Jeffrey Siegel presents what he calls a "keyboard conversation." He'll play music by Gershwin, Edward MacDowell, Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein and Scott Joplin after giving lively mini-talks about their composers and their art. A question-and-answer period concludes the evening. Siegel, a New Yorker, has soloed with many an orchestra, including the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic. He's also been on Oprah Radio and recorded Gershwin's complete works for piano and orchestra. The Nov. 13 program is planned for 7 p.m. at the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center at 3921 Fabian Way in Palo Alto. Works to be played include Joplin's "Wall Street Rag," Copland's "The Cat and the Mouse" and Gershwin's "Rialto Ripples" and "Sleepless Night." Advance tickets are $35 general and $30 for JCC members and students; admission at the door is $40. For more information, go to paloaltojcc.org or call 650-223-8609.
121 First Stre et , Los Altos, CA 9 4 0 2 2 Tel : 6 5 0 - 9 49 - 5 8 91 w w w.losaltosvault .com
Inspirations
a guide to the spiritual community
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, UCC
10:00 a.m. This Sunday:The Worst Parable Ever
Rev. David Howell preaching
Organ Concert, 3:00 p.m. Frederic Blanc Come experience our new 5:00 p.m. service! Vibrant, Engaging and Arts-Based
Chamber concert
A saxophone in a chamber concert? It's certainly not unheardof, especially if you're performing Bernhard Heiden's Intrada for Woodwind Quintet and Alto Saxophone. The Palo Alto Philharmonic's fall chamber concert is one of less common mixtures and sounds, including the Heiden piece, which blends a saxophone's sound into the winds. The viola, clarinet and piano also make up an unusual troika in works by Max Bruch. Also on the program is "Saxiland," written for saxophone quartet and piano by the contemporary
Film
`Freedom's Fury'
This Saturday, Kepler's Books in Menlo Park recalls the 1956 Hungarian Revolution with a film night. The store will hold a public screening of the 2006 documentary "Freedom's Fury." Directed by Colin K. Gray and Megan Raney, the film looks at the revolt against Soviet domination that the Soviets ultimately put down. Instead of focusing on the street fighting or the thousands of Hungarians fleeing the country, the filmmakers centered their documentary on the 1956 Olympic semifinal water-polo contest between Hungary and Rus-
Inspirations is a resource for ongoing religious services and special events. To inquire about or to reserve space in Inspirations, please contact Blanca Yoc at 223-6596 or email byoc@paweekly.com
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Eating Out
RESTAURANT REVIEW
Save the planet: Eat a burger
Steak Out's burgers are juicy and full-flavored -- and even billed as eco-friendly
by Dale F. Bentson
S
Michelle Le
The barbecue bacon burger is served with jalape�os, lettuce, tomato, red onion, bacon and cheese.
teak Out is one of those hybrid restaurants that defy classification. It's fast-food but with superior quality; it has no table or bar service but offers an exceptional roster of microbrews; and it has limited indoor seating but a spacious al fresco patio, which works wonderfully unless the weather is ugly. Opened in early July, Steak Out occupies the space of the former Turkish eatery Bodrum Cafe in downtown Mountain View. Michael Finley has partnered with Mehmet Delgri, principal of Bodrum, in the American-styled
food approach. At present, the carnivore selections are burgers and sausages but the menu is set to expand. "Steaks will be added soon," Finley promised. "I really want to enjoy what I am doing," said Finley, who spent the past few years learning about high-quality, locally sourced foods while managing farmers markets for Bay Bread of San Francisco. "I've had a long-standing desire to have my own food business." At the farmers markets he rubbed elbows with the area's cutting-edge growers and ranchers.
DINNER BY THE MOVIES AT SHORELINE'S
Scaloppine di vitello al Marsala
Pizzeria Venti
ys holida happy
The town of Marsala is a seaport city located in the Province of Trapani on the island of Sicily in Italy. The low coast on which it is situated is the westernmost point of the island. It is best known as the source of Marsala wine. Chicken Marsala is an ancient dish made with this wonderful wine. So great was thought the power of this wine, a Greek warlord even believed his men fought with more flair by drinking a little before battle. But it was the English who settled in Sicily in the early 1800's who are credited with "upgrading" the dish with the use of veal.
It is our distinct pleasure to offer Scaloppine di vitello al Marsala as this week's special dish.
Buon appetito! Chef Marco Salvi
SCALOPPINE DI VITELLO AL MARSALA
button mushrooms, sliced
Preparation instructions:
Add 2 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly season the veal with salt and pepper coat each medallion in flour, shaking to remove excess flour. Place in the heated skillet until golden brown on each side, about 5 minutes. Remove medallions from the skillet, place in a baking dish covered with foil, and keep warm in the preheated oven until ready to serve.
1390 Pear Ave., Mountain View (650) 254-1120 www.mvpizzeriaventi.com
Hours: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday
Heat the remaining olive oil in the skillet over medium low heat, and saut� the shallot, garlic and mushrooms, scraping up any browned bits, until shallots are tender. Increase heat to medium high, and stir in the Marsala. Cook and stir until thickened. Remove from heat, and whisk in the butter until melted. Pour sauce over the veal and serve with a wedge of lemon. Serves 4
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Steak Out's beef is raised by Morris Grassfed in San Juan Bautista. Morris Ranch practices "holistic" management of its grasslands, which, its website claims, improves land health with rotational grazing and no-till organic farming. Finley buys whole animals and has them butchered and dry-aged for two weeks, which reportedly adds to the meat's flavor profile. Every part of the animal is ground and used except for the offal. That might not sound appetizing but it is. The beef is juicy but not fatty, tender yet firm and dense enough to hold its shape, and loaded with rich, robust flavors. It should be a crime to douse these burgers with ketchup and mustard. Morris Grassfed is a seasonal business -- cows take their time. Finley is talking to North Bay organic-beef ranchers to supply him during winter months. Besides top-notch beef, the bun is what distinguishes a great burger from the run-of-the-mill. Finley, with his bakery experience, has developed an exceptional bun that is baked by the Palo Alto Baking Company. "It's a two-day process," he said. "The yeasted rolls are made from a natural starter." On a recent visit, I found all the beef burgers, which each weigh a third of a pound, dense and delicious. The euphoric eUtopia burger ($8.50) was dressed with caramelized onions, horseradish mayo and sharp cheddar cheese. The exceptional eXperience burger ($8.50) came with sharp cheddar cheese, house-made sauce, lettuce and tomato. Meanwhile, the uber-Undressed burger ($8.50) featured a choice of cheese or no cheese, with sides of tomato, pickle, lettuce, red onion. There were non-meat sandwiches as well. The "crab cake burger" ($9.25) was excellent: a deep-fried cake with shaved fresh fennel, chickpea spread and spicy harissa aioli (hot Tunisian chilies and spices). The veggie burger ($6.75) was a deep-fried chickpea patty topped with onion, cabbage, tzatziki sauce and roasted-red-pepper spread. Sausages came with options: caramelized onions, roasted sweet or spicy peppers, sauerkraut and tomatoes, plus an array of mustards from the condiment bar. With the delicious andouille sausage ($5.95), I chose the harissa aioli and sauerkraut. The bun was fat with tender meat and fixings. While the price was right, the grilled cheese tomato sandwich ($4.50) was nothing special. Grilled cheese sandwiches, chicly referred to as "melts," are hot items right now amongst foodies with exciting cheeses and fabulous breads, often grilled in panini machines. The grilled cheese at Steak Out was something most people could concoct at home in less than five minutes. No "melt" here. Good and plentiful were the sweet-potato fries ($3.50) with chipotle dipping sauce. Regular fries ($2) sat too long in the warming tray: saltless, brittle and, because they were not made to order, flavorless. I am not much of a beer drinker and can't comment much on the quality of Steak Out's labels. I
love the names of the microbreweries, though: Rogue Dead Guy Ale (draft), Mad River Steelhead Pale Ale (bottle), Lost Coast Great White (bottle), Wandering Aengus apple cider (bottle) and Spaten Optimator (draft). In all, there are two dozen choices. For sweets, the vanilla-beangelato milkshake was good but not worth $4.50 -- and please don't use dispenser whipped cream as an ooze-over-the-sides messy topper. For that price I expected more shake and less ooze. But the beef was well worth it. The restaurant offers the choicest of full-flavored, grass-fed beef, with all the attendant environmental appropriateness, in a fast-food setting. Eating can be a quick or leisurely experience depending on how much time one has. If Steak Out ever launches a marketing campaign, I might suggest its slogan should be "Save the planet: Eat a burger."
NEW BLUE ... Blue Iris Studio recently opened its doors at 3485 El Camino Real in Palo Alto, offering yoga, pilates and meditation classes along with such "wellness treatments" as massage. A grand-opening party is planned for Saturday, Nov. 12, with a 4 p.m. yoga class with live music and a party beginning at 6 p.m. Go to blueirisstudiopaloalto. com or call 650-858-1440.
Shop Talk
-- Rebecca Wallace
VILLA ROUGE ARRIVES ... A grand-opening party was recently held for Villa Rouge, a business providing home decor and design consultation along with home accessories, seasonal items and jewelry. Fittingly, Villa Rouge is on Villa Street, at 714 Villa in Mountain View. Go to villarougestore. com or call 650-237-3113.
Steak Out 383 Castro St., Mountain View 650-209-0383 Open daily: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. www.steakout.us
Reservations Credit cards Lot Parking Beer and wine Takeout Highchairs Wheelchair access Banquet Catering Outdoor seating Noise level: Low Bathroom Cleanliness: Good
-- Rebecca Wallace Heard a rumor about your favorite store or business moving out, or in, down the block or across town? Shop Talk will check it out. Email shoptalk@ paweekly.com.
Athena
Athena Award Luncheon
2011 Athena Tara VanDerveer
Stanford University Head Women's Basketball Coach
Wednesday 11:15 am�1 pm
November 16, 2011
Note : Early St art Time
Garden Court Hotel 520 Cowper Street
Hosted by Sponsored by
Media Sponsors
Chamber members: $65
Non-members: $80
Information: 650.324.3121 www.PaloAltoChamber.com
Make reservations at PaloAltoChamber.com/NewsandEvents
Thanks to Our Annual Event Sponsors
harrington design
Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce 122 Hamilton Avenue PaloAltoChamber.com 650.324.3121
Palo Alto
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MEXICAN
Celia's Mexican Restaurants Palo Alto: 3740 El Camino Real 650-843-0643 Menlo Park: 1850 El Camino Real 650-321-8227 www.celiasrestaurants.com Palo Alto Sol 328-8840 408 California Ave, Palo Alto
of the week
AMERICAN
Armadillo Willy's 941-2922 1031 N. San Antonio Rd., Los Altos Range: $5.00-13.00 Hobee's 856-6124 4224 El Camino Real, Palo Alto Also at Town & Country Village, Palo Alto 327-4111
CHINESE
Su Hong � Menlo Park Dining Phone: 323�6852 To Go: 322�4631 Winner, Menlo Almanac "Best Of" 8 years in a row!
PIZZA
Pizza Chicago 424-9400 4115 El Camino Real, Palo Alto This IS the best pizza in town Spot A Pizza 324-3131 115 Hamilton Ave, Palo Alto Voted Best Pizza in Palo Alto www.spotpizza.com
INDIAN
Darbar Indian Cuisine 321-6688 129 Lytton, Downtown Palo Alto Lunch Buffet M-F; Open 7 days
POLYNESIAN
Trader Vic's 849-9800 4269 El Camino Real, Palo Alto Dinner Mon-Thurs 5-10pm; Fri-Sat 5-11pm; Sun 4:30 - 9:30pm Available for private luncheons Lounge open nightly Happy Hour Mon-Fri 4-6 pm
Burmese
Green Elephant Gourmet 494-7391 Burmese & Chinese Cuisine Janta Indian Restaurant 3950 Middlefield Rd., Palo Alto (650) 462-5903 Fax (650) 462-1433 (Charleston Shopping Center) Dine-In, Take-Out, Local Delivery-Catering 369 Lytton Ave., Downtown Palo Alto www.greenelephantgourmet.com Lunch Buffet M-F; www.jantaindianrestaurant.com
SEAFOOD
Cook's Seafood 325-0604 751 El Camino Real, Menlo Park Seafood Dinners from $6.95 to $10.95
CHINESE
Chef Chu's 948-2696 1067 N. San Antonio Road on the corner of El Camino, Los Altos 2010 Best Chinese MV Voice & PA Weekly Jing Jing 328-6885 443 Emerson St., Palo Alto Authentic Szechwan, Hunan Food To Go, Delivery www.jingjinggourmet.com Ming's 856-7700 1700 Embarcadero East, Palo Alto www.mings.com
Ming's serves distinctive Chinese fare in grand fashion. With more than 200 dishes covering nearly every permutation of meat, seafood, vegetables, rice and noodles, Ming's aims to please even the finickiest of appetites. 1700 Embarcadero East, www.mings.com
ITALIAN
La Cucina di Pizzeria Venti 254-1120 1390 Pear Ave, Mountain View www.pizzeriaventi.com Fresh, Chef Inspired Italian Food Spalti Ristorante 327-9390 417 California Ave, Palo Alto www.spalti.com
THAI
Siam Orchid 325-1994 496 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto Organic Thai Free Delivery to Palo Alto/Stanford/Menlo Park Order online at www.siamorchidpa.com
JAPANESE & SUSHI
STEAKHOUSE
Sundance the Steakhouse Fuki Sushi 494-9383 321-6798 4119 El Camino Real, Palo Alto New Tung Kee Noodle House 1921 El Camino Real, Palo Alto Online Ordering-Catereing-Chef Rental 947-8888 Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30 am-2:00pm 520 Showers Dr., MV in San Antonio Ctr. Sushi Workshops-Private Tatami Rooms Dinner: Mon-Thu 5:00-10:00pm Online Gift Card Purchase Voted MV Voice Best `01, `02, `03 & `04 Fri-Sat 5:00-10:30pm, Sun 5:00-9:00pm Prices start at $4.75 fukisushi.com & facebook.com/fukisushi www.sundancethesteakhouse.com
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Search a complete listing of local restaurant reviews by location or type of food on PaloAltoOnline.com
Movies
OPENINGS Melancholia 1/2
(Guild) The end is nigh in "Melancholia," writer-director Lars von Trier's latest wading pool of misery. If you had two hours and 17 minutes to live, how would you spend them? Weeelll, probably not in the company of "Melancholia." Cinema's self-styled enfant terrible starts from a couple of potentially fertile ideas: the wedding reception of a deeply depressed woman named Justine (an impressively raw Kirsten Dunst) and doomsday explored on ground level, rather than in the customary cartoony action context. Von Trier has also assembled some interestLeonardo DiCaprio in "J. Edgar." ing actors and crafted some striking imagery, to be sure (much of make the Coen Brothers look like it Dunst lain emotionally or physi- happy-go-lucky optimists. cally bare). But it ends up largely Since von Trier blurs out characfeeling like an empty exercise, not ter detail, the film must stand on its unlike life as the auteur sees it. broad-strokes symbolism, and let's The clunky first half of "Mel- face it: It doesn't get much broader ancholia" concerns that wedding than naming a planet "Melanchoreception, which puts Justine lia." The few but potent graceful through unbearable paces and and moving passages -- including results in predictably horrible an artfully composed prologue set behavior on her part. The groom to (who else?) Wagner -- keep (Alexander Skarsg�rd) tries to turn threatening to make "Melanchoher world on with his smile; bride's lia" work as a tone poem. But the sister Claire (Charlotte Gains- director's emotional sadism and bourg) harangues Justine not to be laughable bluntness in his symdepressed -- not a useful strategy; bolic approach leave us in the cold, their mother (Charlotte Rampling) to pick through the art-auction gives a toast about the dismal in- catalog of Manuel Alberto Claro's sensibility of marriage; Claire's cinematography and contemplate husband John (Kiefer Sutherland) Dunst's award-winning suffering. rubs in the cost of the reception, which he has carried; and Justine's Rated R for some graphic nuboss (Stellan Skarsg�rd) absurdly dity, sexual content and language. hounds her for an ad-campaign Two hours, 17 minutes. tagline. Had von Trier dialed up the -- Peter Canavese pitch-black comedy of making practical and emotional demands J. Edgar on someone utterly incapable of (Century 16, Century 20) It complying, "Melancholia" might seems like a winning formula: have been wicked fun. But he Unite an accomplished director has bigger fish to fry in the film's (Clint Eastwood) with a gifted acsecond half, a monument to dytor (Leonardo DiCaprio) to tell the ing and denial. (The film's sole story of a notable historical figure setting, John and Claire's country (J. Edgar Hoover). The recipe has mansion, serves as its own kind been tested a dozen times over, of monument: to the delusions of with triumphs ("Milk"), disapperfection and permanence.) As pointments ("Public Enemies") a planet named Melancholia foland middle-grounders ("Ali"). lows a seeming collision course Sadly, Eastwood's drab and toward Earth and the film shifts awkward "J. Edgar" steers closer into existential horror, von Trier to the disappointments category. cannot help but win pathos from The tedious 137-minute film feathe contemplation of "the end" and tures a strong cast and admirable the innocent presence of Justine's production values such as makeup, young nephew. costuming and set design. But the It takes a fair amount of delibernarrative leaps back and forth in ately paced wheel-spinning to get time, fragmenting the pace and to the point: that depression may confusing the viewers. And the be the best preparation for dealpicture's muted gray tones couing with nature's way, or at least pled with monotonous piano tunes a damn sight better than willful make "J. Edgar" this year's best ignorance. "All I know is life on flick for insomniacs. They'll doze Earth is evil," says the clear-eyed, right off. calm Justine of the film's second DiCaprio is slightly miscast as half, once it's her sister's turn to Hoover, the first and longest-tensink into despair. It's enough to
"Splendid"
Roger Ebert / CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
"A Blast of Entertainment. "
Marshall Fine / HUFFINGTONPOST.COM
ured director of the FBI. Eastwood endeavors to cover a lot of territory in Hoover's lengthy career, which spanned the better part of four decades. The audience follows as Hoover dictates his memoirs to a revolving door of writers, flashing back to the dawn of the FBI and some of his more high-profile challenges and achievements, such as the kidnapping and subsequent death of Charles Lindbergh Jr. Hoover interacts with a wealth of various personalities as the FBI expands and progresses, though relationships with his longtime secretary Helen Gandy (Naomi Watts) and colleague Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer of "The Social Network") are granted the most screen time. Inferences about Hoover's sexuality abound as he and Tolson develop a lifelong friendship that borders (or more?) on the romantic. In one scene, Tolson goes into hysterics when Hoover reveals that he has been dating Hollywood actress Dorothy Lamour. Kudos to the makeup department for impressively "aging up" DiCaprio, Hammer and Watts for certain scenes. An excellent supporting cast that includes Judi Dench, Josh Lucas and Dermot Mulroney adds more thespian prowess to the proceedings. DiCaprio delivers another solid performance, though a focus on nailing Hoover's unique speech patterns keep DiCaprio from going all-out. Hammer fares well in his role and is perfectly cast, but his skills seem novice in comparison to DiCaprio's. Watching "J. Edgar" reminded this critic of sitting in a dimly lit history class after tossing back a tablespoon of NyQuil. The film is interesting but not compelling, about a protagonist who is neither likable nor despicable. It's a solid character study, but one better suited for the History Channel or an HBO special. There is a drab
CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS FOR THEATERS AND SHOWTIMES
ACK AND JILL" AM SANDLEILRLIA"JMS WADDY WACHTEL DUGAN AD SON-W M BY DENNIS Y UCTION A FIL ADY MUSICBY RUPERT GREG Y STORBY BEN ZOOK ROAD PROD H DISON/BROKKENBROOKS ARTHUR KEVIN GRROBERT SMIGEL TIM HERDILIRECTEDBY DENNIS DUGAN PPY MA ILBEC RNER ESENTS A HA KOREN BIA PICTURESINPRO SUPERVISMIOUSN ICBY MICHAIELVIADNO ALLEN COVERT STEVEJACK GIARRAPUTO TODD GA COLUM D AL PAC AN BETTINA V UCED SANDLER EC KATIE HOLMESPREXODUTUCIVERES BARRY BERNARADDI AM SANDLER PROD BY ADAM REN & SCREENPLAY STEVE KO BY
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STARTS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11
CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS FOR THEATERS AND SHOWTIMES
Page 29
Movies
MOVIE TIMES
Movie times for the Century 16 theater are for Friday through Monday and Wednesday unless otherwise noted. Times for Century 20 are Friday through Monday unless noted. For more, go to PaloAltoOnline.com.
A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Century 16: 12:40 & 3:20 p.m.; In 3D at 11:40 a.m.; 2:20 & 4:50 p.m.; In 3D Christmas (R) (Not Reviewed) Fri.-Sun. also at 6:10, 7:20, 8:30 & 9:45 p.m.; In 3D Mon. & Wed. also at 5:50, 7:20, 8:20 & 9:35 p.m. Century 20: 11:10 a.m.; 1:25, 3:40 & 6 p.m.; In 3D at noon, 2:25, 4:45, 7:05, 8:25, 9:30 & 10:45 p.m. Anonymous (PG-13) Call Northside 777 (1948) Footloose (2011) (PG-13) (Not Reviewed) Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) The Ides of March (R) Century 16: 11:50 a.m.; Fri.-Sun. also at 6:40 p.m.; Mon. & Wed. also at 6:10 p.m. Century 20: 1:05 & 6:55 p.m. Stanford Theatre: Fri. at 5:30 & 9:15 p.m. Century 20: 11:30 a.m.; 2:10, 4:50, 7:35 & 10:15 p.m. Stanford Theatre: Sat. & Sun. at 5:25 & 9:40 p.m. Century 16: 11:20 a.m.; 1:50, 4:20 & 7:10 p.m.; Fri.-Sun. also at 9:50 p.m.; Mon. & Wed. also at 9:35 p.m. Century 20: 11:25 a.m.; 1:55, 4:20, 6:50 & 9:20 p.m. Revenge of the Electric Car (PG-13) (Not Reviewed) The Skin I Live In (R) 1/2 Moneyball (PG-13) 1/2 Century 16: 3 p.m.; Fri.-Sun. also at 9:35 p.m.; Mon. & Wed. also at 9:05 p.m. Century 20: 4 & 9:55 p.m. Century 20: 11:40 a.m.; 1:45, 3:50, 6:10, 8:30 & 10:45 p.m. Century 16: 11:05 a.m.; 4 & 8:55 p.m.; In 3D at 12:05, 1:35, 2:35, 5, 6:30 & 7:30 p.m.; In 3D Fri.-Sun. also at 9:55 p.m.; In 3D Mon. & Wed. also at 9:45 p.m. Century 20: 11:20 a.m.; 3:55 & 8:40 p.m.; In 3D at 12:30, 1:35, 2:50, 5:15, 6:20, 7:40 & 10 p.m.; In 3D Sat. also at 10:20 a.m. Aquarius Theatre: 5:15 p.m.; Fri.-Tue. also at 7:30 & 9:45 p.m.; Fri.-Sun. also at 3 p.m. Century 16: Fri.-Sun. at 11 a.m.; 1:45, 4:45, 7:45 & 10:30 p.m.; Mon. & Wed. at 12:50, 3:40, 7 & 9:45 p.m.
Paranormal Activity 3 (R) (Not Reviewed) Puss in Boots (PG) (Not Reviewed)
Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview Aquarius Theatre: Wed. & Thu. at 7:15 & 9 p.m. (Not Rated) (Not Reviewed) Susan Lenox: Her Fall and Rise (1931) Tower Heist (PG-13) Stanford Theatre: Wed. & Thu. at 6 & 9:25 p.m. Century 16: 11:30 a.m.; 12:30, 2, 3:10, 4:40 & 5:40 p.m.; Fri.-Sun. also at 7:40, 9 & 10:25 p.m.; Mon. & Wed. also at 7:20, 8:40 & 9:50 p.m. Century 20: 11:25 a.m.; 12:15, 1:10, 2, 2:55, 3:45, 4:30, 5:25, 6:20, 7:10, 8, 8:55, 9:45 & 10:35 p.m.
Immortals (R) (Not Reviewed) Century 16: Noon & 5:30 p.m.; In 3D at 11 a.m.; 1:40, 2:40, 4:30 & 7:30 p.m.; In 3D Fri.-Sun. also at 8:40 & 10:30 p.m.; In 3D Mon. & Wed. also at 8:30 & 10:05 p.m. Century 20: 11:30 a.m.; 2:15, 5, 7:45 & 10:30 p.m.; In 3D at 12:25, 1:20, 3:10, 4:05, 5:55, 6:50, 8:45 & 9:35 p.m. In Time (PG-13) (Not Reviewed) Century 16: 11:15 a.m.; 1:55 & 4:35 p.m.; Fri.-Sun. also at 7:35 & 10:20 p.m.; Mon. & Wed. also at 7:15 & 9:50 p.m. Century 20: 12:10, 2:45, 5:20, 7:55 & 10:40 p.m. It Happened One Night (1934) Stanford Theatre: Wed. & Thu. at 7:30 p.m. J. Edgar (R) Jack and Jill (PG) (Not Reviewed) Century 16: 11 a.m.; 12:20, 2:10, 3:30, 5:20, 7, 8:50 & 10:10 p.m. Century 20: 11:35 a.m.; 1, 2:40, 4:05, 5:50, 7:15, 9 & 10:20 p.m. Century 16: 11:10 a.m.; 12:10, 1:30, 2:30, 4:10 & 5:10 p.m.; Fri.-Sun. also at 7, 8, 9:30 & 10:25 p.m.; Mon. & Wed. also at 7:40, 9 & 10 p.m. Century 20: 11:15 a.m.; 12:05, 12:55, 1:40, 2:30, 3:20, 4:15, 4:55, 5:45, 6:40, 7:25, 8:15, 9:05, 9:50 & 10:40 p.m.; Sat. also at 10:35 a.m. Palo Alto Square: 2:30, 5 & 7:20 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. also at 9:50 p.m. Stanford Theatre: Sat. & Sun. at 3:15 & 7:30 p.m. Aquarius Theatre: 4:15, 7 & 9:55 p.m.; Fri.-Sun. also at 1:30 p.m. Palo Alto Square: 2 p.m.; Fri.-Tue. & Thu. also at 4:45 & 7:15 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. also at 9:45 p.m. 1/2 Guild Theatre: 4, 7 & 9:55 p.m.; Fri.-Sun. also at 1 p.m.
Twilight Saga Tuesdays: Century 16: Tue. at 7:30 p.m. Century 20: Tue. at 7:30 p.m. Eclipse (PG-13) (Not Reviewed) Twilight Saga: Marathon (PG-13) (Not Reviewed) Winchester `73 (1950) Century 16: Thu. at 4 p.m. Century 20: Thu. at 4 p.m. Stanford Theatre: Fri. at 7:30 p.m.
Skip it
Some redeeming qualities
A good bet
Outstanding
Like Crazy (PG-13) (Not Reviewed) Lost Horizon (1937) Margin Call (R) Martha Marcy May Marlene (R) 1/2 Melancholia (R) 1/2
Aquarius: 430 Emerson St., Palo Alto (2669260) Century Cinema 16: 1500 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View (800-326-3264) Century 20 Downtown: 825 Middlefield Road, Redwood City (800-326-3264) Cin�Arts at Palo Alto Square: 3000 El Camino Real, Palo Alto (493-3456)
Guild: 949 El Camino Real, Menlo Park (2669260) Stanford: 221 University Ave., Palo Alto (3243700) Internet address: For show times, plot synopses, trailers and more information about films playing, go to PaloAltoOnline.com.
The Metropolitan Opera: Don Century 20: Wed. at 6:30 p.m. Palo Alto Square: Wed 6:30 p.m. Giovanni (Not Rated) (Not Reviewed)
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NOW PLAYING
The following is a sampling of movies recently reviewed in the Weekly:
Anonymous (Century 16, Century 20) According to "Anonymous," the true author of Shakespeare's plays was Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford. As the theory goes, the aristocrat found a front so as not to compromise his position with the political intimations and liberality of his plays (after all, a poor guy who never went to college couldn't possibly have written them). Screenwriter John Orloff offers wildly overreaching historical fiction, dotted with salacious conjecture (accidental incest) and inaccuracies that range from trivial to
undertone to the whole affair that is the cinematic equivalent of an overcast day. American-history enthusiasts may appreciate the film's context and Eastwood's attention to detail. Here's a suggestion: Go in the morning after a cup of coffee instead of the evening after a glass of wine. Rated R for brief strong language. Two hours, 17 minutes. -- Tyler Hanley
head-scratchingly bald. As played by Rhys Ifans, de Vere comes off as a seriously repressed cold fish. Even allowing the film's conceit that circumstances force de Vere to hold back his passions, we're never convinced this guy ever took delight in his own freewheeling humor and poetic soul. Rated PG-13 for some violence and sexual content. Two hours, 10 minutes. -- P.C. (Reviewed Oct. 28, 2011) 1/2 Margin Call (Aquarius) "Margin Call" is a dramatization of a crucial 24-hour period at a fictional Wall Street investment bank, MBS, with most of the story unfolding within its glass-encircled high-rise offices. The canary in the coal mine is the bank's Risk Assessment & Management Department, just gutted by a round of layoffs. Out with the trash goes the man running the department (Stanley Tucci's Eric Dale), but he leaves some data in the hands of his young protege Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto), along with two ominous words: "Be careful." Sullivan, who left rocket science for finance, extracts an inescapable
Affordable daytime care for your aging parents
conclusion from the data: The bank will tank. Rated R for language. One hour, 45 minutes. -- P.C. (Reviewed Oct. 21, 2011) 1/2 Martha Marcy May Marlene (Palo Alto Square) "Martha Marcy May Marlene" points with its alliterative title to the blurring of self necessary to brainwash. Martha (Elizabeth Olsen) allows herself to be absorbed by a cult, a forcedsmiley bunch ruled by a Svengali who tells her, "You look like a Marcy May." John Hawkes plays the cult leader as an ideological and sexual seducer of the highest order. Taking turns with Martha's stint in the cult is a second timeline, depicting her escape to mainstream society, as represented by her superior sister Lucy (Sarah Paulson) and impatient brother-in-law Ted (Hugh Dancy). Lucy's lake house seems alien to Martha, who has lost any social graces she might have had. As a matter of course, she questions the privileged lifestyle of her hosts, and her disconnect leads to unnerving faux pas. Rated PG13 for language and sexual content. One hour, 45 minutes. -- P.C. (Reviewed Nov. 4, 2011)
1/2 Moneyball (Century 16, Century 20) "Moneyball" -- based on the 2003 novel by Michael Lewis about Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) and his unorthodox approach to fielding a winning team on the cheap -- offers a captivating and humorous look into the business side of America's pastime. Beane hooks up with economics whiz Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), an unheralded wunderkind in the value of baseball statistics. Together the duo eschews standard baseball wisdom and begins revamping the team using an analytical/mathematical approach, much to the chagrin of the organization's more traditionally minded scouting department. Rated PG-13 for some strong language. Two hours, 6 minutes. -- T.H. (Reviewed Sept. 23, 2011) Tower Heist (Century 16, Century 20) Ben Stiller plays Josh Kovacs, the building manager of a deluxe apartment in the sky, called simply "The Tower." Josh's tight ship hits an iceberg when he learns that penthouse tenant Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda) -- who agreed to invest the pensions of the building's staff -- has committed securities fraud "of epic proportions," losing the pensions in the process. When he becomes convinced that Shaw has $20 million in cash hidden in the apartment, Josh hatches a scheme to break in, steal the money and play Robin Hood to his devastated co-workers (fun fact: Stiller's salary for the picture was $15 million). Rated PG-13 for language and sexual content. One hour, 45 minutes. -- P.C. (Reviewed Nov. 4, 2011)
EL DESEO presents A FILM BY ALMOD�VAR
Call for your free visiting day!
"SCARY, SEXY AND TERRIFICALLY TWISTED!"
-Peter Travers, ROLLING STONE
Fri & Sat 11/11-11/12 Sun thru Tues 11/13�11/15 Wed ONLY 11/16 Thurs 11/17 Like Crazy - 2:30, 5:00, 7:20, 9:50 Martha Marcy May Marlene - 2:00, 4:45, 7:15 9:45 Like Crazy - 2:30, 5:00, 7:20 Martha Marcy May Marlene - 2:00, 4:45, 7:15 Like Crazy - 2:30, 5:00, 7:20 Martha Marcy May Marlene - 2:00 Like Crazy - 2:30, 5:00, 7:20 Martha Marcy May Marlene - 2:00, 4:45, 7:15
ANTONIO BANDERAS ELENA ANAYA MARISA PAREDES JAN CORNET ROBERTO �LAMO
directed by
WWW.SONYCLASSICS.COM
NOW PLAYING
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PEDRO ALMOD�VAR
On CENTURY CINEMAS 16 1500 North Shoreline Blvd, Visit iTunes.com/SPC for a look at The Skin I Live In and other SPC films Mountain View (800) FANDANGO VIEW THE TRAILER AT WWW.THESKINILIVEINMOVIE.COM
Book Talk
TOM BROKAW LIVE ... The Commonwealth Club presents NBC Nightly News Special Correspondent Tom Brokaw, "The Time of Our Lives: A conversation about America; Who we are where we've been, and where we need to go now, to recapture the American dream" (Nov. 21, 1 p.m. at Santa Clara Convention Center, 5001 Great America Pkwy., Santa Clara). Information: www.keplers.com; tickets: www.commonwealthclub.org/ events/2011-11-21/tom-brokaw-siliconvalley. AUTHOR AUTHOR ... Upcoming authors at Keplers, 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, include Robert Trivers, "The Folly of Fools: The Logic of Deceit and Self-Deception in Human Life" (Nov. 16, 7 p.m.); Anthony Horowitz, "The House of Silk: Sherlock Holmes" (Nov. 18, 7 p.m.); Sue Grafton, "V is for Vengeance," meet and greet book-signing event (Nov. 28, 7 p.m.); Random House Best Books of the Season (Nov. 30, 7 p.m.); Lynn Stegner and Russell Rowland, "West of 98: Living and Writing the New American West" (Dec. 1, 7 p.m.); Frank Close, "The Infinity Puzzle: Quantum Filed Theory and the Hunt for an Orderly Universe" (Dec. 6, 7 p.m.); Richard Heinberg, "The End of Growth: Adapting to Our New Economic Reality" (Dec. 8, 7 p.m.). Information: www.keplers.com. KIDS' TALKS ... Upcoming children's authors at Kepler's in Palo Alto include Frans Vischer "Fuddles," (Nov. 13, 11:30 a.m.); Teen event: Ransom Riggs, "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" (Nov. 15, 7 p.m.); M-A Parent Education Series: Robin Mamlet and Christine VanDeVelde, "College Admission: From Application to Acceptance, Step by Step" (Nov. 16, 7 p.m. at Menlo-Atherton Performing Arts Center, 555 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park); Oliver Jeffers, "Stuck" (Nov. 17, 6 p.m.); Jon Muth "Blowin' in the Wind" (Nov. 19, 11 a.m.); Elisa Kleven, "The Friendship Wish" (Nov. 20, 11:30 a.m.); Jenni Holm, "A Very Babymouse Christmas" (Dec. 7, 6 p.m.). Information: www.keplers.com. LIVING IN A COCOON ... Lift Your Spirits Home Transformations owner Jennifer Duchene of Palo Alto has written a book especially for women, "Le Chic Cocoon: 7 Steps to Creating Your Selfish Space." The book, which is available through Amazon and Barnes and Noble, is about "claiming their power and a space of their own to do it in. It straddles empowerment and decorating," she said. Information: www.JenniferDuchene.com. POWER STRATEGIES ... Heidi BK Sloss of Los Altos has written "Fortune Is in the Follow-Up: Five POWER Strategies to Grow Your Business," which is billed as a back-to-basics, how-to book offering tips on increasing sales. Published by Bush Street Press, San Francisco, it sells for $14.95. Information: www.amazon.com.
Title Pages
A monthly section on local books and authors, edited
by Gennady Sheyner ong before Barry Bonds earned his asterisk, Alex Rodriguez signed his quarterbillion dollar contract and Manny Ramirez shrugged off a playoff loss with the comment, "Who cares? There's always next season," the life of the typical baseball player was a brutal and thankless affair. As recently as the first half of the 20th century, baseball players had no collective-bargaining rights, guaranteed contracts or six-digit signing bonuses. They shared hotel rooms, paid for their own rehabilitation and held second jobs to support their families. As 1940s Yankee pitcher Floyd "Bill" Bevens said, "Even if we win the World Series, you will find me back on the delivery truck at Salem, Oregon, in winter." The quote, which appears in William Gould's new book, "Bargaining with Baseball: Labor Relations in an Age of Prosperous Turmoil," may shock today's baseball fan, accustomed as he or she is to astronomical contracts such as the $25 million one-year deal the Yankees' ace de jour, C.C. Sabathia, signed earlier this month. But as Gould explains in his detailed and wideranging book, the current excesses did not develop in a vacuum. A Stanford University law professor, avid Red Sox fan and former chairman of the National Labor Relations Board, Gould is more than a scholar of the national pastime. He was the central player in baseball's last major labor dispute. In 1995, he cast the deciding vote that ended
by Sue Dremann
William Gould's book, "Bargaining with Baseball," takes on Major League Baseball's labor relations and much, much more
"Bargaining with Baseball: Labor Relations in an Age of Prosperous Turmoil," by William B. Gould IV; McFarland & Company, Inc.; Jefferson, N. C., and London; 318 pp.; $39.95
L
Items for Book Talk may be sent to Associate Editor Carol Blitzer, Palo Alto Weekly, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 93202 or emailed to cblitzer@paweekly.com by the last Friday of the month.
baseball's strike -- the last time a labor dispute interrupted the season. All three sides of his personality are on full display in "Bargaining Baseball." The book is an expansive, passionate and anecdote-riddled survey of labor relations in baseball, from its surging popularity in the aftermath of the Civil War to the players' legal victories in the 1960s and 1970s, and to the "steroid era" of the present day. The book contains all the virtues and flaws of the game it covers -- long stretches of insider minutia interrupted by moments of entertainment and insight. Some chapters read like a college textbook: Gould catalogues antitrust cases, discusses the applicability of collective-bargaining agreements to international players, and painstakingly details the financial consequences of the 1994-95 strike he helped end. A scholar of labor relations or a law student could find much to admire in this detailed survey. But for a casual fan, some sections pack all the thrill of watching a big leaguer chomping on a wad of tobacco. Gould's generous use of exclamation marks doesn't always help. In some cases, they make sense, as when he celebrates the game of his childhood: "Under the circumstances of our sandlot ball, it goes without saying that the guy who owned the ball was particularly powerful and popular!" he writes early in the book. At other times, they seem almost puzzling, particularly in the
context of labor jargon. "The rich are getting richer through revenue sharing deductions provided by the collective bargaining agreement!" he exclaims. His excitement is admirable, though not always contagious.
What Gould does do exceptionally well is explain how players' salaries got to be where they are. (They have risen more than a hundredfold since 1969, he notes.) A true student of the
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Veronica Weber
William B. Gould IV, author of "Bargaining with Baseball," shows his passion for the sport outside his Stanford University Law School office.
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Title Pages
Baseball
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game, Gould does a masterful job chronicling the legal battles between the players' union and team owners, whose once unassailable power over players gradually began to crumble in the second half of the 20th century. He takes us step by step through every major labor dispute, from the 1912 episode in which the legendary Detroit Tigers slugger Ty Cobb was disciplined for punching out a heckling fan, leading to a players' strike, to the 1972 dispute over pensions, to the "mother of all strikes" in 1994-5. The turning point for the players came in the late 1960s, when the fledgling Major League Players Association began scoring a series of victories over team owners. Headed by former steelworkers' union organizer Marvin Miller, the union was a successor to earlier failed efforts. It managed to abolish the "reserve clause" -- a long-standing policy that gave teams the power to resign players in perpetuity -- and to negotiate significant salary hikes and improved pension benefits. In the first eight years of Miller's tenure, which stretched from 1966 to 1980, the players' pensions more than tripled, the minimum salary rose from $6,000 to $16,000 and the average salary more than doubled (though at $40,956 it still seems paltry by today's standards), Gould writes. More significantly, the union ne-
gotiated its first collective-bargaining agreements in 1966 and in 1968, setting the parameters for a system that remains intact to this day. As the union grew in power, team owners were forced to loosen their strangleholds. In 1972, the union staged a successful strike that forced owners to contribute $500,000 to players' pensions. The following year, the union negotiated a new collective-bargaining agreement with owners that gave veteran players a greater say over trades and established a binding-arbitration process for salary disputes. Another pivotal victory for the players came in 1974, when legendary Oakland A's pitcher "Catfish" Hunter faced off against the team's notoriously stingy and heavy-handed owner Charles Finley. Hunter challenged Finley after the latter failed to deposit $50,000 into Hunter's "deferment plan," as called for in the contract. He won his "breach of contract" challenge in arbitration, terminated his A's contract, became a free agent and joined the New York Yankees, who gave him an "unprecedented salary package" that included a $1 million signing bonus, a $150,000 annual salary for five years and life-insurance benefits worth $1 million. The Hunter-Finley face-off resulted in the first "guaranteed contract," that obliged the team to compensate him even if he couldn't perform due to injury. Players prevailed in 1995 when Gould cast the deciding vote in a 3-2 labor board decision to autho-
NOTICE OF VACANCY ON THE ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW BOARD FOR ONE TERM ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2014 (Term of Lee)
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the City Council is seeking applications for the Architectural Review Board from persons interested in serving on one term ending September 30, 2014. Application forms and appointment information are available in the City Clerk's Office, 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, (650) 329-2571, or may be obtained on the website at www.cityofpaloalto.org. Deadline for receipt of applications in the City Clerk's Office is 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, November 29, 2011. DONNA J. GRIDER City Clerk There are no residency requirements for the Architectural Review Board.
25th Annual Palo Alto Weekly
rize an injunction against the team owners, who were looking to reduce salaries and field minor-league replacement players to keep the season going. Gould agreed with the board majority that owners did not bargain in "good faith" with the union before they declared an impasse and imposed new employment conditions that would have stripped some players of salary-arbitration rights. Gould's stance isn't too surprising given his lifelong admiration of big leaguers. It doesn't help that the chapter on the 1994-5 strike features a signed photo of Baltimore's ironman shortstop Cal Ripken standing with the author. His description of the owners' bitter reaction to the injunction ("they "snarled angrily") also does little to foster a sense of objectivity. Still, his frenetic, playby-play description of the labor board's frenzied negotiations amid heavy political pressure makes for a wildly entertaining read. Throughout the book, Gould is never shy about criticizing current league policies, as when he excoriates interleague play -- a system adopted in 1997 under which National League and American League teams square off during the regular season. The arguments are invariably passionate, though not always entirely convincing. But "Bargaining with Baseball" is more than a primer and a polemic. It is also a celebration of the game, which has always been more prone to nostalgic recollections than other major sports. Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor, who as a district judge granted the National Labor Relations Board's injunction that settled the 1994 strike, wrote at the time that the "often leisurely game of baseball is filled with many small moments which catch a fan's breath." "There is, for example, that wonderful second when you see an outfielder backpedaling and jumping up to the wall, and time stops for an instant as he jumps up and you finally figure out whether it is a home run, a double or a single off the wall, or an out," she wrote. Gould's book has its share of nostalgic recollections and colorful anecdotes. It veers from dry to ecstatic, such as when he follows the upswings and downswings of his childhood heroes, the Boston Red Sox. It casts a wide net and has something to offer to any serious fan of the game -- provided the fan is willing to wade through minutes of labor-law nuance to get to the "wonderful second." The experience will surely feel familiar to a baseball fan. Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be emailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com.
Operation Marriage
Author pens children's book, inspired by gay Palo Alto family
by Jessica Lipsky and Carol Blitzer "Operation Marriage" by Cynthia Chin-Lee, illustrated by Lea Lyon; Reach and Teach; 32 pp.; $14.95 s a Chinese-American who grew up in Washington, D.C., Cynthia Chin-Lee knows what it feels like to be an outsider and to be ostracized. So when the children's book author heard about a lesbian couple at her church, First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto, whose kids were being bullied and harassed because of their parents' sexual orientation, she was inspired to write a book. "It's really a sweet story because it's looking at it from the kids' point of view. They love their parents and want to see their families validated in society," Chin-Lee said. The book tells how two kids, 8-year-old Alex and her younger brother, Nicky, are teased by their classmates because their parents -- two moms -- aren't married. The book is set in the Bay Area in the months preceding the passage of Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage. In the book, the children encourage their parents to marry, and much of the book concerns the personal story of their family. "I think it's important to open the dialogue, the conversation. There are over 18,000 couples that got married in that short time in California when gay marriage was allowed, and lots of those marriages have children. The little boy that posed for Nicky in the book has two dads. There are celebrities. ... You see it, and there are kids that are going to wonder about it," ChinLee said. The family that inspired the book told Chin-Lee that they had Mormon friends who were confused about Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in California, but went along with the church doctrine to support it. After the election, they
A
"said they did the wrong thing because they liked the gay people as people." Chin-Lee noted that children of gay marriages "are normal kids ... (and) it's unfair to them not to have their families get the validation of society." Although some people disagree with her, "I hope that just by talking to them that they'll begin to realize that there's a different way of thinking," she said, pointing to the many ways families can be different. Some are headed by single parents; some are interracial or inter-faith. "It's not so long ago that the Supreme Court made a decision about interracial marriage," she added. Chin-Lee, who is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and the author of "Amelia to Zora," "A if for Asia" and "Almond Cookies and Dragon Well Tea," among others, sees "Operation Marriage" as a civil-rights story. "The book is for all kids, all families, not just kids with gay parents. I have a particular passion for social justice and celebrating diversity. ... We grow from our shared humanity," she said. She is currently trying to partner and donate a portion of the proceeds from her book to the Human Rights Campaign and Parents, Families, & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). Ultimately, she said, "If I just change one person's mind, that makes it worthwhile. And I feel that there's been much more support. It's been a great project." Danville Express Online/Community Editor Jessica Lipsky can be emailed at jlipsky@embarcaderopublishing.com; Carol Blitzer can be emailed at cblitzer@ paweekly.com.
NE DEADLI E D EXTEND
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Page 33
Sports Shorts
OAKS' NOTES . . . Menlo College junior Alex Palomarez was named Cal Pac Conference Men's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week, his fourth such honor this year. Palomarez recorded his seventh shutout of the season in the Oaks' only match last week, a 3-0 victory over Cal State Maritime. Menlo is in position to win the conference title this week, The unbeaten Oaks traveled to Oakland to meet once-beaten Holy Names on Thursday. Palomarez, who leads the Cal Pac with seven shutouts, will likely play a big role . . . Lenny Romero led a trio of Menlo College senior wrestlers who placed at the Roadrunner Open in Bakersfield over the weekend. Romero placed third in the 245-pound division, winning four of his five matches. Adrian Gonzalez was fourth at 165 pounds and Carlos Soto placed fourth at 174 pounds, each recording a 5-2 mark. The Oaks take part in the San Francisco State Invite on Saturday . . . Menlo wrestler Michelle Jimenez placed third in 109 pounds at the Missouri Valley Open over the weekend Jimenez compiled a 3-1 mark in the tournament, defeating Midland's Jasmine Alvarado, OCU's Esthefania Jimenez, and Menlo's Sherylyn Sabado, who came back to finish fifth. SISTER ACT . . . Sisters Allison and Megan Coleman from Palo Alto High both earned all-league honors in volleyball for their respective college teams this week. Allison, a junior at Swarthmore College (Pa.), was named to the All-Centennial Conference second team. Coleman led the team in assists (1,000) and assists per game (9.80), with the total assists breaking the school's previous single-season record of 949. Currently, Coleman is in second place on the school's alltime list for career assists with 2,439. On the other side of the country, Megan earned first-team honors on the All-SCIAC squad. Megan, a freshman libero at Claremont Mudd Scripps, earned first-team all-league honors. In SCIAC action, Coleman had 229 digs in 14 matches and controlled the backcourt with her speed and versatility. For the season, she had more than 400 digs. She helped Paly to the CIF Division I state title last season.
STANFORD FOOTBALL
Defense will be crucial
High-powered Oregon needs to be stopped in Pac-12 showdown
by Rick Eymer
J
ON THE AIR
Friday
Women's basketball: Stanford at Texas, 5 p.m., KZSU (90.1 FM) Men's basketball: Central Arkansas at Stanford, 7 p.m. (KNBR (1050 AM) Women's volleyball: Stanford at Washington, 7 p.m., KZSU (90.1 FM)
The Stanford defense will have its work cut out for them on Saturday when nationally No. 6-ranked Oregon brings its high-powered offense to Stanford Stadium for a showdown for the Pac-12 Northern Division title.
arek Lancaster, a graduate of Texas high school football, had himself fired up to play Oregon on Tuesday, even though he was warned there should be a steady climb through the week so as not to run out of energy too early. "I'm trying to stay even keel," Lancaster said. "But it's impossible. I'm ready to go. I think as a football player, you just want to get to the game." And this is The Game as far as third-ranked Stanford (7-0, 9-0) is concerned. After the sixth-ranked Ducks (6-0, 8-1) dropped a 40-27 decision to nationally top-ranked LSU to open the season, they have reeled of eight consecutive victories without much sweat. The winner of Saturday's 5 p.m. contest will most certainly appear in the inaugural Pac-12 championship contest on Dec. 2. The Ducks are back in the conversation as a possible candidate for the national championship, perhaps with the idea of a little vengeance on their minds. So too does Stanford remember well last year's reversal of fortunes in Eugene and the second-half collapse as Oregon exceeded the speed limit and zoomed into the national title game. It was the lone loss of last year's greatest Cardinal season in school history. "This is what we've been preparing for since the last time we played them," Stanford free safety Michael Thomas said. "We've had this game circled since then." Lancaster and Thomas are among those assigned to stopping the highpowered, explosive, high-octane offense that is Oregon. "They have two speeds, fast and very fast," Lancaster said. "There's no free-lancing on these guys; they
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Rick Bale/stanfordphoto.com
Stanford women begin NCAA title quest
Top-ranked Cardinal opens postseason action soccer by hosting Montana on Friday night
Saturday
College football: Oregon at Stanford, 5 p.m., ABC (7); KNBR (1050 AM); KZSU (90.1 FM)
W
Sunday
Women's volleyball: Stanford at Washington St., 12:30 p.m., KZSU (90.1 FM) Women's basketball: Gonzaga at Stanford, 2 p.m., KZSU (90.1 FM)
READ MORE ONLINE
For expanded daily coverage of college and prep sports, please see our new site at www.PASportsOnline.com
www.PASportsOnline.com
by Rick Eymer hen the women's soccer season began in August, all eyes were on the StanfordNotre Dame contest, a rematch of last year's national championship game. As it turned out, beating Penn State in the season opener was far more impressive. The top-ranked and overall No. 1 seeded Cardinal (19-0-1) opens the NCAA tournament at home against Montana on Friday night at 7 p.m. The Grizzlies (6-11-4) won the Big Sky tournament title to earn a trip to the Bay Area. Stanford enjoys a strong challenge
in its nonconference schedule, which is why teams like Notre Dame, Maryland and North Carolina often appear. Penn State was supposed to be one of the easier tests. It hasn't turned out that way. The Nittany Lions won the Big Ten Conference title and was on a 13-match winning streak before losing in its tournament championship game to Illinois. Penn State's Maya Hayes did not get a shot off against Stanford and then went on to lead the nation with 27 goals. This is all just another way of suggesting that women's soccer is no
longer limited to a handful of successful teams and that the NCAA tournament is full of competitive soccer squads that could win on any given day. Overall, the Cardinal played 10 teams during the regular season, four of them from the Pac-12, which earned spots in the postseason. Penn State and UC Irvine were the most successful, each winning their respective regular season titles, and then both losing in their conference tournaments. But what of Notre Dame, you
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Rick Bale/stanfordphoto.com
Stanford senior Lindsay Taylor is looking for an NCAA title.
CROSS COUNTRY
His next big step is CCS
Menlo's Pugliese has made great strides in only is first year running
by Keith Peters t was an overcast, rainy Saturday morning in San Jose and Menlo School water polo coach Jack Bowen was just about to be pushed and dragged into the pool at Independence High as the Knights celebrated their Central Coast Section championship. Standing off to the side watching the celebration unfold was Menlo junior Daniel Pugliese. He was still wearing his dark blue robe and his No. 14 cap, as dry as when the match started. Pugliese did not play in the 2010 CCS championship match, which pretty much summed up his three years with the team at that point. Certainly, there would not be a fourth year of watching others play. "I wasn't the best at it," Pugliese said of his water polo career. "And, I wasn't getting the opportunity to play. I loved the sport, but it wasn't working out." So, Pugliese hung up his polo cap and decided to try something new. "I had run cross country in middle school," he said. "And, I had swum a number of years. I wanted to do triathlons (swimming, biking and running) so I figured this was a good way to start." Pugliese knew a couple of the other runners on the Menlo crosscountry team, including then-senior Sam Parker, the 2010 West Bay Athletic League individual champion and seventh-place finisher at CCS. "I didn't expect much of it," Pugliese said of his debut season of running, which began with a 33rd place in the Division IV race at the Stanford Invitational. "I was the first Menlo boy," Pugliese said. "I thought to myself, hey, not bad." That first race was just the kind of confidence-builder that Pugliese needed. From there, his season just took off as he won individual titles in the league races, capped with a triumph at the WBAL Championships last Friday at Crystal Springs in Belmont. His time of 16:02.3 was a personal best on the rolling 2.95mile course. "I thought it was great that I was doing so well, but not that I would follow him (Parker)," Pugliese said. Pugliese's season has been one right out of a storybook, a true ragsto-riches tale that is not yet over. Pugliese and his teammates will toe the starting line once again on Saturday at the 2011 CCS Championships, also at Crystal Springs. The boys' Division IV race starts at 10 a.m. and is the first of the day. The Division V boys and girls follow beginning at 11:10 a.m. with the Division I boys going off at 12:20 p.m., followed by the girls at 12:55
I
Keith Peters
Gunn senior Elizabeth Anderson leads the Titans into the CCS Division I water polo playoffs with 131 goals scored this season.
CCS WATER POLO
Gunn girls are hoping for something historic
Titans will be taking aim at their first-ever section title; Menlo boys, SHP and M-A girls open title defenses Saturday
Keith Peters
T
by Keith Peters he winningest team in Gunn girls' water polo history produced 23 victories, that coming last year when the Titans finished 23-6 after losing to eventual champion Menlo-Atherton in the Central Coast Section Division I semifinals. Gunn was seeded No. 4 for the playoffs, the team's highest seeding ever. While that team set the bar, the 2011 Titans can raise it. Gunn heads into the postseason with a No. 3 seed in Division I and a 20-6 mark. In order to tie the program's all-time record in the sport, the Titans need to win three straight matches -- including the championship. Gunn coach Mark Hernandez says his team is prepared to do just that. "Specifically, we took some losses early in the season so that we would be prepared to win three games in CCS," said Hernandez. "Last season, we opened with a tournament at Lincoln (High). We won all three games, by scores of (something like) 24-2, 27-1 and 13-0. At the time, that's what (I felt) the program needed; to get out and build some confidence, and see that they were, in fact, a good team. "Heading into this year, we knew we were a good team, and wanted to prove that we could be elite. So, we scheduled our first game against defending CCS (Division I) champ (and current No. 4 seed) MenloAtherton, and beat them 17-8." The very next day Gunn took on North Coast Section favorite Las Lomas and lost. The following weekend, the Titans faced East Bay powerhouses Campolindo and defending NCS champ Monte Vista (Danville), losing both. One week later, Gunn hosted Campolindo and lost again, but improved from a 12-5 defeat to a setback in sudden death overtime.
"This was the most difficult stretch in our program's history," said Hernandez, "and we came out of it 3-5. But, we knew it was the best thing for our team, to get out and compete against the best the area had to offer so that when November rolled around, we would be battle-tested. We knew it would have been easier (and perhaps more fun) to start off 6-0 (a record we could have easily achieved had we kept our tournament schedule from last year), but we knew that wouldn't help us do something historic." While Gunn has played in only six of the 16 section tournaments dating to 1996 when playoffs were held in the fall and the spring -- failing to qualify for from 2000 to 2007 -- the Titans have made steady improvement. That coincides with the arrival of current senior Elizabeth Anderson, who has played on teams that lost in the first round (her freshman season), lost in the quarterfinals (as a sophomore) and then to eventual champion Menlo-Atherton in the semifinals last season. The natural progression for Gunn, then, is to take that final step in Anderson's final season. She obviously has made an impact for the Titans, much like she did Saturday as she poured in nine goals in a 17-9 dunking of defending champ Los Altos in the SCVAL De Anza Division Tournament at Monta Vista High in Cupertino. Gunn was the tourney's No. 1 seed after beating the No. 2-seeded Eagles in the regular-season finale. Beating Los Altos in two of three meetings this season is a first for Gunn. "Nine goals for Elizabeth. Probably the most dominant performance I've ever seen in a championship game," said Hernandez. "Elizabeth
(continued on page 37)
Menlo School senior Daniel Pugliese is in only his first year of running cross-country, but has a WBAL title and CCS hopes this weekend. p.m. While Pugliese wasn't able to contribute to the Menlo water polo team's success last season, he definitely has factored into the crosscountry team's success. His winning time in the WBAL finals ranks him seventh among Division IV entrants. Four runners ahead of him, however, are on teams expected to qualify for the state meet. That leaves Pugliese in solid position to earn an atlarge berth for the state finals and a chance to continue his very interesting season. Too bad there's no pool to jump into to celebrate. "I'm still learning how to pace properly and take the hills," he said. "The (Menlo) coaching staff and other runners have helped me those things up." Pugliese is headed into uncharted territory this weekend, given where he came from. There were no thoughts of even qualifying for CCS when the season began. "Not at the beginning of the year," he said. "But, I'm looking forward to it." So are quite a few others who have legitimate shots at qualifying for the CIF State Meet in Fresno on Nov. 26. Two favorites for individual titles are Gunn sophomore Sarah Robinson and Priory senior Kat Gregory. Robinson, who finished third at
(continued on page 42)
Keith Peters
Priory senior Kat Gregory is running for a third straight CCS title.
Page 35
ANNOUNCING T H E 2 6 TH A N N U A L PA L O A L T O W E E K L Y
JUDGES: ADULT/YOUNG ADULT
Tom Parker, Award winning novelist and short story writer, UC Extension and Foothill College Instructor and former Stanford Instructor Meg Waite Clayton, is the nationally best selling author of The Four Ms. Bradwells, The Wednesday Sisters, and The Bellwether Prize finalist The Language of Light. She lives with her family in Palo Alto, and is at work on a fourth novel to be published by Ballantine in 2013. Pamela Gullard, Pamela Gullard's stories have appeared in the North American Review, Arts and Letters, The Iowa Review, TriQuarterly and other journals and anthologies. With co-author Nancy Lund, she has written three nonfiction books; the latest, Under the Oaks: Two Hundred Years in Atherton, appeared in 2009. Pamela teaches personal narrative and literature at Menlo College.
PRIZES
FOR ADULTS: $500 Cash - FIRST PLACE $300 Cash - SECOND PLACE $200 Cash - THIRD PLACE FOR YOUNG ADULT/CHILDREN/TEEN: $100 Gift Certificate - FIRST PLACE $75 Gift Certificate - SECOND PLACE $50 Gift Certificate - THIRD PLACE Certificates are from co-sponsoring area bookstores. Bell's Books (*ages 15-17) Kepler's (*ages 12-14) Linden Tree (*ages 9-11) *age as of entry deadline
CHILDREN/TEEN
NE DEADLI ED ENTRY DEADLINE: EXTEND Writers: December 2, 2011, 5:30 p.m. All
Katy Obringer, Former supervisor of Palo Alto Children's Library Caryn Huberman Yacowitz, Playwright and Children's book author Nancy Etchemendy, Children's book author
All adult winners and first place young winners in each category will be announced in the Palo Alto Weekly in February 2012. All winning stories will be published online at www.PaloAltoOnline.com
1. The contest is open to anyone who lives, works or attends school full-time in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Atherton, Stanford, Portola Valley, Woodside, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, and East Palo Alto. 2. Limit of one entry per person. 3. Stories must be typed, double-spaced. Maximum 2,500 words. Longer stories will be disqualified. 4. $15 entry fee, along with hard copy, for all ADULT stories; $5 entry fee for YOUNG WRITERS under 18. Make checks payable to "Palo Alto Weekly." 5. Entries may not have been previously published. 6. Signed entry form must accompany story. Author's name should NOT appear anywhere on pages of story. 7. All winners are required to email their story to the Palo Alto Weekly in a Microsoft Word Document as an attachment. Mail manuscripts to: Palo Alto Weekly Short Story Contest, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302 or deliver to 450 Cambridge Ave., Palo Alto
Questions: shortstory@paweekly.com
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CONTEST RULES
Sports
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL MEN'S BASKETBALL
Her sights are clearly set on that elusive title
by Rick Eymer
Expectations will be higher for Stanford
Cardinal has been forced to grow up quickly and now appears ready for yet another new challenge this season
by Rick Eymer
T
his is Nnemkadi Ogwumike's year and the senior preseason All-American has the Final Four clearly in her sights. You won't catch her looking ahead though. She knows the path to the top will be grueling and there are still 141 shopping days left until the Stanford women's basketball team can think about Denver in April. But just to make it even more demanding, Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer has put together another impossibly tough nonconference schedule, highlighted by visits to Connecticut and Xavier and visits from Gonzaga and Tennessee. The fifth-ranked Cardinal opens the season Friday in Texas, where the 24th-ranked Longhorns are waiting to tip off at 5 p.m. Stanford's home opener is Sunday at 2 p.m. against Gonzaga. The first 10 teams on the slate appeared in the postseason last year, including eight in the NCAA tournament, one in the WNIT and one in the WBI. Last year's combined record of their first 10 opponents? 252-72. Wow. And the Pac-12 season opens with a road trip to USC and UCLA, both currently ranked in the top 25. Texas won 19 games last year and the other nine teams won at least 20, with three of those reaching 31. VanDerveer wants to make sure there's no time to relax for the veterans while providing the newcomers with a steep learning curve. Ogwumike (17.5 points, 7.6 rebounds last year) and fellow seniors Grace Mashore and Lindy LaRocque have been through the grindstone before and will be counted upon to lead the others safely through the maze of the season. Juniors Sarah Boothe, Joslyn Tinkle, Mikaela Ruef and sophomores Chiney Ogwumike (11.7, 8.0), Toni Kokenis and Sara James also know what its like to reach the Final Four. With six freshmen, many of whom are expected to contribute right away, there will be a lot of cramming done until Christmas. "The freshmen don't slow things down," VanDerveer said. "They go all out. Nneka has already told this team that we have to outwork people."
T
Stanford senior Nnemkadi Ogwumike has her sights set on that elusive NCAA title this season. The newcomers bring versatility and depth, with guards Alex Green, Jasmine Camp and Amber Orrange and forwards (all 6-2 or taller) Taylor Greenfield, Erica Payne and Bonnie Samuelson. The ability to mesh with the Ogwumike sisters will likely determine their playing time. Orrange (13 assists in the exhibition games) and Camp will see action at point guard, along with Kokenis. LaRocque and Green add depth to the position. Samuelson could be difficult to defend since she's able to shoot from almost anywhere on the court. She made a combined 10 three-pointers in the two exhibition games. "Our team is going to be really different," VanDerveer said. "We'll be smaller but much, much quicker. There's the speed of the freshmen guards and a healthy Toni and Nneka run the floor very well." VanDerveer is hopeful Chiney Ogwumike can take her game to the next level. together." That pretty much describes the Gunn and and Palo Alto boys, as well. Both squads played well as a unit while posting first-round victories in CCS Division I playoff action Tuesday night. Palo Alto cruised to a 14-4 win over No. 11 Pioneer (13-15) behind four goals by Nelson Perla-Ward. The host Vikings had a balanced scoring effort in addition to clearing their bench, even giving players brought up from the frosh-soph team for the playoffs some pool time. Gunn also advanced with an 18-8 romp over Lynbrook at Los Gatos High as freshman Ari Wayne poured in five goals and junior Michael Znidarsic added four. Sophomore Coby Wayne and senior Tyler Wilson each contributed three goals. The No. 6-seeded Vikings (16-13) will face No. 3 Menlo-Atherton (1311) in the quarterfinals on Saturday while the No. 7-seeded Titans (1612) will take on No. 2 Bellarmine (17-9). In Division II, defending champion and No. 2 seed Menlo School (16-8) will face No. 7 Aptos (16-9)
he Stanford men's basketball season opens with a splash this weekend as the Cardinal plays three games in five days, all at home, beginning with Friday night's 7 p.m. tipoff with Central Arkansas. Despite losing its leading scorer from last year to the pros, Stanford has raised expectations this year under coach Johnny Dawkins, who is entering his fourth season. Those expectations start with senior center Josh Owens, who is poised for stardom. He led the team in rebounding (6.5) last year and added 11.6 points a game on 58 percent shooting. He'll be counted on for inside offensive and defense. Owens and the three other seniors, Andrew Zimmerman, Jack Trotter and Jarrett Mann, were named team captains. All four have played a pivotal role in moving the Cardinal forward. Jeremy Green was eligible to return but chose to take his chances in the NBA draft. He was not selected and currently remains unsigned. The entire league, meanwhile, remains in lockout limbo. "We have very good leadership," said Dawkins, "probably the best leadership that we've had since I've been there. This senior class makes sure that we're all on the same page and all understanding the culture that we want to have at Stanford." Their imprint on this year's team will likely manifest itself in the way the current sophomores hold themselves on and off the court. A year without seniors meant Owens and the other current seniors were forced to grow up a little faster. Last year's on Saturday while No. 1 seed Sacred Heart Prep (16-10) will take on No. 9 Carmel (16-9). SHP earned the top seed after avenging its only loss of the West Catholic Athletic League regular season with a 14-12 overtime win over No. 1 seed Bellarmine in the league playoff finale Saturday night in Atherton. That gave the Gators the overall league crown, since there was a three-way tie first to end the regular season. The Gators trailed 9-2 early in the third quarter before rallying, with Bret Hinrichs scoring the game-tying goal to send the match to overtime. Zach Churukian gave SHP the lead for good in the second mandatory OT period. Both Hinrichs and Churukian finished with four goals each. Harrison Enright got the second goal in second OT to seal it. He finished with three goals. Junior goalie Will Runkel had 12 saves for the Gators after getting 16 in a 9-7 semifinal win over St. Francis. In the girls' WCAL playoff finale, St. Francis upended top-seeded Sacred Heart Prep, 7-4. "While last night's game didn't go
freshmen class had to do the same. Dwight Powell, Anthony Brown and Aaron Bright were the most notable of the newcomers, and John Gage, Josh Huestis and Stefan Nastic (injured most of the year) will likely make their presence felt this season. Robbie Lemons is also part of that blue-chip class. Powell earned Pac-10 All-Freshman Team honors last season after making 26 starts and appearing in all 31 games. Brown was also an allfreshman pick as he worked his way into the starting lineup. He's the top returning 3-point shooter, making 42 of them last year. Bright also started a handful of games and played in all of them. In addition to making more starts (47) than any other Pac-10 team, Stanford's freshmen logged the highest percentage of minutes played (41.7) and accounted for the highest percentage of scoring (40.3). Chasson Randle is the jewel of the freshmen class. The highly-regarded combo guard will be given a chance to run the team from the start. "When I first saw Chasson I thought he was a winner," Dawkins said. "He comes from a winning culture and he's versatile. Whether it was taking the ball to the basket and creating shots for himself or his teammates, he has that innate ability to make plays." Other newcomers include Wade Morgan and Jack Ryan. Stanford was picked to finish sixth in the Pac-12 preseason media poll, its highest projected finish since 2007-08, when the Cardinal was tabbed for fifth and finished second. as we would have liked, we are still very pleased to be co-champions of the WCAL," said SHP coach Jon Burke. "Each year we set a league championship as one of our goals and we were able to achieve that again this year. To us, it's the body of work that is most important. Going undefeated in the round robin over the course of seven weeks is not an easy thing to do, especially when you are playing in the WCAL. I think most people would agree with that. It did not come together for us in the league tournament, but we still feel good about being the regular-season champions." Despite the loss, four-time defending CCS champ Sacred Heart Prep (21-5) still received a No. 1 seed in Division II and will begin defense of its title on Saturday. Also opening on Saturday will be Menlo-Atherton (13-10), the No. 4 seed in Division I. (The Palo Alto and Castilleja girls played on Wednesday night, past deadlines for Thursday's paper. For complete results from each round of the CCS playoffs, go to www.pasportsonline.com.)
Page 37
Water polo
(continued from page 35)
has been a player to build around. She does so many things at an elite level and, she says, she likes to win. She plays the game hard, and plays the right way and, as the clich� goes, makes everyone around her better." Anderson, who will play for Santa Clara next season, scored 16 goals in the two playoff victories now has 131 goals this season. She helped the Titans outscore the Eagles, 11-4, in the second half. Sophomore Elizabeth Anderson added five goals for Gunn, which topped Los Altos twice after losing the teams' first meeting in overtime. The tournament triumph immediately thrust the Titans into the CCS title picture, with only No. 2 Leland (21-5) and No. 1 St. Francis (19-6) seeded ahead of them. "After what we did this past weekend, I wouldn't put anything past us," Hernandez said. "Los Altos is an elite team, the second seed in Division II, and we simply overwhelmed them. We played aggres-
sive offense and active defense, at a very impressive level. I knew we could play like that that but, until Saturday, I hadn't seen it. "Also relevant, I think, is that beating Los Altos (especially the way we did) took a monkey off of our backs. Until about two weeks ago, they had our number and felt that we couldn't beat them. So, to beat them for a second time in a row, in the biggest game of the year, and in a very convincing fashion, gives us a lot of confidence. "Having said that," Hernandez continued, "we do have a much more athletic grokup than we've ever had before. There are people that do not start on this year's junior varsity team that would have started on varsity teams in the past. We've had a lot of good athletes come through the pipes the last few years." Hernandez credited former coach Aileen Delaney for her work four years ago with the current seniors. "And, I think, our success has breeded success," Hernandez said. "Now, people know that if they come to Gunn, they can be a part of a winning culture; a team that works hard, works smart, and plays well
John Todd/stanfordphoto.com
Sports
Showdown
(continued from page 34)
will burn you if you do." Oregon's LaMichael James is the national rushing leader, averaging 151.6 yards a game. Ducks' quarterback Darron Thomas has a passing efficiency rating of 157.35, 13th best in the country. Receiver De'Anthony Thomas is the national leader among true freshmen with 12 touchdowns. Jackson Rice, Oregon's punter, ranks fourth nationally with his 46.9 average. Even on the rare occasion when teams slow down the Ducks' offense, they still have the ability to pin you down in your own territory. "This is the week everything has to be right," Cardinal receiver Griff Whalen said. "We'll be paying extra attention to all the details." The game has all the trimmings of big-time football: ESPN's College Game Day makes its Stanford debut this weekend, the game is sold out and tailgate space will be at a premium. By kickoff, Stanford Stadium, or at least its latest incarnation, will be rocking like never before. Storylines and subplots abound in this easily-hyped contest. Stanford and Oregon are among the top five nationally in scoring offense, with the Cardinal holding a slim 48.2-46 advantage. Stanford ranks third in rushing defense, grudgingly giving up 78.9 yards a game, while the Ducks are fifth nationally with their 298.4 rushing yards per game. Stanford shut down the run against Oregon State, but allowed USC's Curtis McNeal and Washington's Chris Polk to gain about 145 yards each. James averages 30 yards more than Polk. Oregon and Stanford rank 1-2 in the conference in quarterback sacks and in sacks against. Quarterback Andrew Luck, who may be the first overall pick in the next NFL draft, helps Stanford rank high in team passing efficiency and Oregon ranks high in pass efficiency defense. It's strength against strength, though Stanford coach David Shaw
freely admitted that "we don't have a guy on our team like Darron Thomas." Speaking of Thomas, Oregon has three of them, all on offense, with Darron, De'Anthony and Brandon (a lineman). Stanford counters with a pair of defensive Thomas' in Michael and Chase. The Cardinal will get the services of Delano Howell, who missed the past three games with a hand injury. The senior strong safety is considered the hardest hitter on the team and one of its inspirational leaders. "His presence will be felt just by the physicality he brings," said Michael Thomas. "Having him back inspires us." Chris Owusu, on the other hand, will not play against the Ducks after taking yet another blow to the head against Oregon State. "He feels great and he's in good spirits," Shaw said. "We're being overly cautious." Tight end Zach Ertz remains doubtful for the game, while kicker Jordan Williamson and lineman Cameron Fleming are probable. Stanford puts a few streaks on the line this week, including the nation's longest current winning streak at 17 games. The Cardinal can match the school's best start in history (10-0 in 1940) with a win, can win its 12th straight home game and beat its fifth consecutive ranked opponent. Oregon has beaten Stanford in eight of their previous nine meetings, and has won 18 straight conference games, second-longest current streak in the nation. The Ducks have never beaten a Top 5 team on the road and their last road win over a Top 10 team was in 1997. Oregon played in the national championship game last year. Stanford wants to play in the national championship game this year. "We're aware of how prolific their offense is," Luck said. "But we try not to do something out of character, or blow it out of proportion. We don't want to be doing anything different in week 10 than we've been doing all year." Luck hopes that includes winning. made the postseason. UCLA, a Final Four regular, finished second to Stanford in the Pac12 and the Bruins' only loss was at Stanford. California, Washington State and Oregon State were also named as at-large teams. "Everything is a preparation for the postseason," Stanford assistant coach Nicole Van Dyke said. "Teams playing us different ways, having to prepare differently . . . we can't really let up." The Cardinal may be favored to win its first national title after reaching the past two championship matches, but the road remains full of dips, sudden turns and no passing lanes. Stanford may be the overwhelming favorite to get by Montana this week and host either Texas or South Carolina next week, but there are no givens. The Cardinal must maintain focus or risk giving up something cheap. "I want see us play our best in the final game," Stanford coach Paul Ratcliffe said.
Don Feria/stanfordphoto.com
Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck (12), here against Oregon State last week, doesn't have a watch, a calendar or an Ipad, but he knows what the timing of Saturday's game with Oregon means to his team's unbeaten season.
Even without a watch, Luck knows what time it is
by Dave Kiefer ts time. Stanford against Oregon: The Game of the Century, West Coast version. Saturday's sold-out game at Stanford Stadium will determine the first champion of the Pac-12 North Division, ensure a berth in the inaugural conference title game and, if Stanford wins, enable the Cardinal to remain in the running for a national championship. Actually, it's time for just about everybody but Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck. "Did you circle this game on
I
your calendar?" "I don't have a calendar," he said. "Do you use your iPhone?" "I don't have an iPhone." "Do you have a watch?" "I don't have a watch." So how does Luck keep track of time? "I read the syllabus," he said. Luck certainly doesn't need a syllabus to be aware of the stakes. "When you're thinking about the upcoming football season, you're thinking about Oregon," Luck said. "If you want to do something
on the West Coast, you've got to beat Oregon." Stanford head coach David Shaw said there is a different feel around the undefeated Cardinal team this week. "They know," he said. "You can tell to a certain degree. I don't know if there's a certain amount of anxiety. It's not about being nervous. It's about saying, Hey, you know what, we've played well this year, but in this game we've got to play better than we've played all year. That's just a fact." Shaw said energy and attention to detail will not be an issue in practice this week. "Our guys know they have to play their best game to have a chance to win," he said.
NCAA soccer
(continued from page 34)
may ask. The Irish may still reach the title game but will have a more difficult time of it this year. They finished third in the National Division of the Big East Conference, and had the fifth most points overall. Notre Dame suffered seven losses (Penn State and the Anteaters combined for eight losses) while the Tar Heels, who Stanford did not play this year, yet, finished with five losses and in third place in the ACC. Portland, which has won the national title, was fifth in the West Coast Conference and enters the postseason with an overall .500 mark. Santa Clara, also a former national champion, lost on the final day of the conference season and finished third. The Broncos' only other loss was to Stanford. Maryland, which is responsible for the only blemish on the Cardinal record to date, went nowhere in the ACC, finishing seventh, and still
Page 38
Luckily, the Cardinal can play at home the next four games if it keeps winning. The senior class of Lindsay Taylor, Teresa Noyola, Camille Levin and Kristy Zurmuhlen, has not lost a home match during their distinguished careers. "The crowd is critical to our success," Ratcliffe said. "We've had a few sold-out crowds and they help us. It's like a 12th man on the field for us. We really appreciate all the support we're getting." Stanford made its final tuneup for the postseason a good one as Taylor and Zurmuhlen scored within 40 seconds of each other in the first half to lead Stanford to a 2-0 victory over Cal in a rainy Pac-12 women's soccer season finale last Friday night. The victory allowed the Cardinal to earn its place in history. Stanford (19-0-1 overall, 11-0 Pac12) became just the second school to finish three consecutive regular seasons unbeaten, and the first to do so since North Carolina from 1991-93. Stanford extended its regular-season
Jim Shorin/stanfordphoto.com
Stanford seniors (L-R) Teresa Noyola, Camille Levin, Kristy Zurmuhlen and Lindsay Taylor have never lost at home during their careers. unbeaten streak to 62, its home winning streak to 46, and its conference winning streak to 31. The four-member senior class of Camille Levin, Teresa Noyola, Taylor, and Zurmuhlen has a regularseason record of 75-1-1 and has never lost at home.
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Harker Open House Events
Real Estate Matters
THE QUICK AND THE DEAD
When you start planning to put your home on the market, it's time to show off. Try to imagine that your in-laws are coming for an extended visit, and then triple the effort you would put into preparing for their arrival. Sellers are competing for offers, and it all starts at your front door - literally. Impress potential buyers at first sight with a well-tended lawn and entryway. When they walk through the door, make sure they do not sense any clutter. You've got to pack it up sooner or later, so take the opportunity to do it now, before another agent or buyer steps into your home. An abundance of personal items like photos and children's "refrigerator art" can interfere with a buyer's ability to picture the home as their own. Next, polish doorknobs, handrails, and lighting fixtures, anything that can add a little sparkle. This includes windows which should let in plenty of light. First impressions really do count when it comes to presenting your home. Accentuate its features and eliminate distractions such as personal items or unpleasant odors. An uncluttered, well kept home will attract buyers, and a little time and care can make the difference between a quick sale and a languishing listing.
Sports
PREP NOTES
SHP's Kremer will swim at Stanford
Kremer will join Cardinal men's team; Gunn's Zhou second in NorCal golf
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by Keith Peters acred Heart Prep senior Tom Kremer, one of the top freestylers and backstrokers in the nation, won't be leaving the area to continue his swimming career next fall. Kremer has verbally committed to swim for the Stanford men's team in 2012. He picked the Cardinal over Cal and Southern Cal. "I am both honored and excited to represent Stanford next year," Kremer said. "I know that Coach Skip Kenney will help me become the best athlete I can be and that Stanford will provide one of best academic environments in the world." Kremer won the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke titles at the Central Coast Section Championship in 2010 and 2011, establishing a section record of 1:36.72 in the 200 free last spring. He finished his junior year ranked third nationally in the 200 free, qualifying him as an All-American.
(continued on next page)
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Page 40
Sports
Prep notes
(continued from previous page)
Ethan Stern (9) of the Palo Alto Knights' Pee Wee team rushed for 102 yards and helped spark the defense to a 14-0 victory over Oak Grove, putting the Knights a victory away from qualifying for the national championships.
Palo Alto Knights have two football teams just a win away from national championships
by Keith Peters t was only a year ago that the Palo Alto Knights' youth football program sent its Jr. Pee Wee team to the AYF National Championships in Orlando, Fla. The squad finished fifth. Most of those players moved up to the Pee Wee level (11-12 years old) this season, but the results have been pretty much the same. In fact, the team is one victory away from a return trip to the AYF Under Armour National Championships, set for Dec. 2-9, in Orlando. All Palo Alto needs is a victory over the Grant Chargers from Sacramento on Sunday in the AYF Mountain Northwest Regional Championship at Oak Grove High in San Jose. The Knights come in 8-2 while the Chargers are 5-5. Kickoff is noon. "This team is on a roll," said Knights' coach Mike Piha. "Our chances are very good to return to the National Championship." The Knights' 8/9th grade Un-
Kremer ranked No. 1 in the state in that event. Kremer also was No. 7 nationally and No. 1 in the state in the 100 back (48.50) and No. 26 in the 100 free (45.12). Kremer also led off the Gators' 400 free relay team that ranked No. 38 -- earning All-American status in all his events. Kremer currently holds five of the eight individual school swimming records at Sacred Heart Prep. "Tom has worked so hard in the pool and in the classroom," said SHP coach Kevin Morris. "I'm truly in awe of everything he has accomplished. I'm so excited for his senior year season, and I know he'll accomplish great things at Stanford. "Tom is the epitome of a studentathlete. It has been such a privilege to coach him and teach him." Morris is a math teacher at SHP and currently teaches Kremer in AP Computer Science. Kremer has dual citizenship with the United States and Israel, and is hoping to compete for Israel in the 2012 Olympics in London. Kremer did compete at the European Junior Championships this past summer and was the only Israeli swimmer to medal by taking the bronze in the 200 IM. Moving on to state Gunn freshman golfer Anna Zhou shot a 2-over-par 72 at the Stanford Golf Course on Monday while finishing in a four-way tie for second place at the girls' NCGA/CIF NorCal Championships. Zhou's finish qualified her for the CIF State Championships, set for Nov. 15 at Poppy Hills in Pebble Beach. The top nine individuals not on a qualifying team advanced, and Zhou did easily while equaling the score turned in by 2011 Central Coast Section champion Hannah Suh of Evergreen Valley. Zhou was even-par through three holes before taking a bogey-4 on the 102-yard par-3 fourth hole. She got back to even with a birdie-3 on the the 340yard ninth hole. Zhou dropped another stroke on the 343-yard par-4 11th hole and suffered a bogey-6 on the par-5 16th. Other than that, she was consistent with 14 pars. Despite tying for second, Zhou
had to settle for the fourth-place medal after losing a four-way playoff on the par-4 18th hole. Zhou and two others made par, forcing a second playoff hole. While standing over her putt, Zhou's ball moved. She called a violation on herself and had to accept the fourth-place medal. College signings Palo Alto High will have 11 seniors committing to colleges on Wednesday. That group includes Kimmy Whitson (Pacific volleyball), Melanie Wade (Washington volleyball), Caroline Martin (Connecticut College volleyball), Maddie Kuppe (UConn volleyball), Kimmy Flather (San Diego State lacrosse), Skylar Dorosin (Stanford watrer polo), Jasmine Tosky (USC swimming), Megan Bredenberg (Pepperdine swimming), Byron Sanborn (Princeton swimming) and Nicky Hu (Harvard tennis). Gunn, meanwhile, also has its share of athletes headed off to college to continue their careers. Among those making commitments on Wednesday: Among that group is: Rachael Acker(Cal swimming), Julia Ama (Stanford swimming), Casey Lincoln (Yale swimming), Elizabeth Anderson (Santa Clara water polo), Allison Doerpinghaus (Eastern Washington State volleyball) and Cat Perez (Seattle University basketball). Acker will be in position to replace former Paly sprint standout Liv Jensen, in her senior year at Cal. Acker has best of 22.7 and 49.0 in the 50- and 100-yard freestyles. At Menlo School, two studentathletes have committed during the early decision signing period to play intercollegiate sports. Right-handed pitcher Freddy Avis, who verbally committed to Stanford on July 6, will sign his national letter of intent to play baseball today. As a junior, Avis compiled a 10-1 season, was second on the team in RBI, and helped lead the Knights to a second consecutive Central Coast Section championship. Outside hitter Natalie Roy has committed to play volleyball at Colby College. As a junior, Roy was third on the team in kills and digs. This season, she is the lone senior on a team which has gone 23-7 overall entering this week's CCS quarterfinals.
Linda Cullen
I
limited Weight team (9-0) also will be playing in a regional championship game -- this Saturday against Vallejo in Sacramento at 5 p.m. -- with the winner also advancing to Orlando, Fla. Piha is hoping to return to the national championships for a seventh time as a head coach, while still looking for his first title. The Knights, as a program will be looking to have a representative for the ninth time in the past 12 years. Piha, for sure, will be in Florida in January. He has been selected as the coach of the AYF Under Armour All-Star West team (8th and 9th graders) that will play in the Tropicana Bowl on Jan. 12 in St. Petersburg, Fla. Piha's team will play in the preliminary game to the High School Under Armour all-star game that will be televised live by ESPN. Piha's Palo Alto Pee Wee team, meanwhile, defeated Oak Grove, 14-0, this past Sunday at Oak Grove High. The Knights used a stingy
defense that only gave up four first downs to an undefeated 0ak Grove team (9-0) that had averaged more than 28 points a game during the season. Oak Grove had handed the Knights one of their two losses in the season, 12-8 to open the campaign. With a defense led by Ethan Stern, Jamie Cullen, Jordan Schilling and Zeke Cox, the Knights shut down Oak Grove's powerful running game, "We knew they could not throw the ball, so we put nine in the box and blitzed our `backers all night," Piha said. "Oak Grove was confused and lost most of the game on offense. Our plan worked to perfection as our players executed the entire game." The Knights' offense also put on a display with a solid power running game led by Stern, who had 102 yards rushing, and Logan Johnson, who took a Jack Rittman screen pass for 58 yards to the end zone to put the game out of reach late in the third quarter.
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605 Cambridge Ave., Ste. A Menlo Park, CA 94025
Sports
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Cross country
(continued from page 35)
Elizabeth Anderson
Gunn High
The senior scored seven goals in a semifinal win and tallied nine goals in a 17-9 triumph over defending champ Los Altos to carry the Titans to the SCVAL De Anza Division Tournament championship in water polo.
Kat Gregory
Priory cross country
Will Runkel
Sacred Heart Prep
The junior goalie had 16 saves in a 9-7 victory over St. Francis in the semifinals and added 12 saves in a 14-12 overtime win over No. 1 seed Bellarmine to help the Gators win the WCAL playoff title and overall championship.
Dante Fraioli*
Pinewood football
JOSE GRADUATED FROM THE NATIONAL TEACHER UNIVERSITY OF HONDURAS. HIS SPECIALTY IS SPANISH LINGUISTICS AND NEOLATIN LANGUAGES. HE IS ALSO A FRENCH INSTRUCTOR AND IS FLUENT IN ITALIAN AND PORTUGUESE. He loves to share his passion for Spanish and Latin American culture and is inspired by his student's enthusiasm for learning languages. When Jos� isn't teaching he loves to read, explore the diversity of San Francisco neighborhoods, and stays active in French, Italian and Portuguese. His favorite quote is: "Persistir� y persistir� hasta alcanzar el �xito" which means, "I will persevere and will persevere until I reach success." - Anonymous
Honorable mention
Giannina Ong
Menlo tennis
Jack Heneghan
Menlo football
Ali Spindt
Menlo-Atherton volleyball
Dre Hill
Palo Alto football
Sarah Robinson
Gunn cross country
Gavin Kerr
Gunn water polo
Maddie Kuppe*
Palo Alto volleyball
Daniel Pugliese
Menlo cross country
Anna Zhou
Gunn golf
JJ Strnad*
Gunn football * previous winner
To see video interviews of the Athletes of the Week, go to www.PASportsOnline.com
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for Prospective Students and Families
Saturday, November 12th, 2011 at 10 a.m. Wednesday, November 16th, 2011 at 7 p.m. Saturday, December 3rd, 2011 at 10 a.m. For information and to R.S.V.P. contact Admissions at 650.851.8223
CCS last year, is the top returning finisher in Division I. She won the SCVAL El Camino Division title with a personal best of 17:32, which ranks her third overall among all the divisions and puts her nine seconds ahead of San Benito's Vanessa Estrada for Division I honors. "Sarah is running very well and should challenge for the win," said Gunn assistant Ernie Lee. Gregory, the two-time defending CCS Division V champion, is an overwhelming favorite for a threerepeat. Her best time of 18:12 at Crystal this season is the only Division V time among the overall top 50 this season. Like Robinson, Gregory could stop and tie her shoelaces and still win easily. Gregory cruised to a second straight WBAL title in 18:44 last Friday at Crystal, but was coming off eight days of no running while recuperating from a sprained ankle. She helped her team qualify for CCS and now the Panthers are in position to join Crystal Springs and Castilleja as state meet qualifiers from Division V. Other teams predicted as state qualifiers include the Menlo-Atherton boys in Division I and Priory boys in Division V. With seniors Michael Hester and Jack Beckwith leading the way, the Bears could finish second to Carlmont or third behind Bellarmine. Gunn has an outside shot, at best. "There are just too many good teams in D1 boys for our guys to have a shot at top two," Lee said. If the Titans don't qualify as a team, senior Andrew Prior could advance as an individual. He was 10th last season in 16:17, but ran 15:50 in the league meet and ranks 23rd at Crystal among all runners this season. The Gunn girls, meanwhile, do have a shot at qualifying as a team. "We have the ability to place in the top two and advance to the state meet," Lee said. "But, we need to have everyone run well. The girls are excited to give it a shot." Paly freshman Katie Foug and junior Chika Kasahara could advance as individuals. The Sacred Heart Prep boys and girls, who swept the WBAL team titles last week, aren't expected to do that Saturday. San Lorenzo Valley, Half Moon Bay and Carmel top the boys' Division IV list while SLV, Scotts Valley and Half Moon Bay are favored to repeat that 1-2-3 order from last season and qualify for state. Sacred Heart Prep senior Zach Kaplan, second at the WBAL finals and 14th at CCS last year, is primed for a shot at a state meet berth along with Menlo sophomore Matt Myers. In the girls' Division IV race, Sacred Heart Prep freshman Gillian Belton could challenge for a berth, as well. In Division V, Pinewood freshman Nicole Colonna, who was seventh at the WBAL meet in 19:55 to earn an at-large berth to CCS, also could have a chance at advancing this weekend.
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Effective Monday, November 7th, South Pasteur Drive will become a two-lane, two-way road. North Pasteur Drive will no longer be accessible due to construction activities. Stanford Hospital & Clinics will continue to be accessed via South Pasteur Drive. Please also note that Welch Road will continue to be a one-lane, one-way road going West between Quarry Road and South Pasteur Drive. Thank you for your patience during construction.
Stanford University School of Medicine
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